Exclusives
FEATURE
Zurich, the World's Best Transit City
Transportation expert Norman Garrick reports on the amazingly effective transit system of Zurich, Switzerland. Garrick says the system is one of the factors that makes Zurich one of the most livable cities in the world.
BLOG POST
"And the Winners are...": re:CONNECT Stand-outs Announced!
<p> <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New'">Last week, at an event attended by over 300 Vancouverites, we announced the winners of our re:CONNECT Open Ideas Competition regarding the future of our Viaducts and Eastern Core. If you missed my past posts on the steps leading up to the big night, it might help to read <a href="/node/52012" target="_blank">here</a> and <strong><a href="/node/52571" target="_blank">here</a></strong> first. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New'"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New'"> </span> </p>
BLOG POST
New Understanding of Pricing Impacts on Travel
Bad planning simply extrapolates past trends: “We experienced 2% annual growth during the last decade, so we’ll assume that will continue into the future.” Good planning attempts to understand underlying factors that affect change.
BLOG POST
Can't Buy Me Love--Or Plan For It
<p> This morning I embarked with three dozen volunteers to plant 10 trees in Pigeon Town, a neighborhood in western New Orleans. The group was completing an eight-hour training on urban greening initiatives, learning everything from pruning methods to how to work with municipalities to find funding for beautification projects—which have been proven to improve everything from <a href="http://www.pennsylvaniahorticulturalsociety.org/phlgreen/seeinggreen.htm">real estate values</a> to <a href="http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/11/more-green-crime/">crime statistics</a>. </p> <p> The training did not, however, cover what we were supposed to do when we heard gunshots ring out. That we had to improvise. </p>
BLOG POST
What Transit Agencies Should Ask Their Customers About
<p> After reading <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-rta-surveys-riders-20111129,0,908396.story">this story</a> about a transit agency surveying their customers, I thought to myself: do riders really want another survey asking whether they are satisfied or how clean the stations are? Although clean stations are certainly better than unclean stations, I suspect that these are not transit riders' major priorities. (And when I say "transit riders" I really of course mean "myself"). </p>
BLOG POST
Sustainability Allows Us to Manufacture Time
<p style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman">Go ahead, define sustainability.<span> </span>Everyone knows countless, tangled and unconvincing definitions for this word which is quickly losing steam.<span> </span>The problem is that we’re not sure about how sustainability relates to us except in planetary ways. We’re bombarded with many concepts that if we reduce this by 20% <span> </span>then we’ll get that in 30 years which helps the earth survive. All’s well, except we’re almost numb because we won’t feel the aggregate effects for quite some time. Obviously, we’re an impatient lot.<span> </span></span></span> </p>
FEATURE
No-Exam Bylaws Amendment for Planning Faculty Will Cheapen AICP Certification
Stuart Meck and Rebecca Retzlaff call the attention of AICP certified planners to an upcoming change to the certification process which they believe will "degrade and cheapen" the AICP designation.
FEATURE
Top 10 Books - 2012
Planetizen’s tenth annual list of the best books in urban planning, design and development ranges from a crowdsourced compendium of ideas for upgrading New York City's built environment to a personal report from the streets of Karachi.
BLOG POST
New Visions for the Viaducts - Vote for your Favourites!
<p> <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New'">As my <a href="/node/52012" target="_blank">last post profiled</a>, Vancouver is creatively working to define the future of our Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts - infrastructure that I've referred to as "the asterix" beside the statement that Vancouver has no freeways within our city.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New'"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New'">One of several inputs into that process is an open ideas competition called <a href="http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/planning/reconnect/index.htm" target="_blank">re:CONNECT</a>.</span> </p>
BLOG POST
The Value of Transportation Enhancements; Or, Are Walking and Cycling Really Transportation?
<p class="MsoNormal"> An important current policy debate concerns whether the next U.S. federal surface transportation reauthorization should require spending on “enhancements,” which finance projects such as walkways, bike paths, highway landscaping and historic preservation. This issue receives considerable attention, despite the fact that enhancements represent less than 2% of total federal surface transportation expenditures, because it raises questions about future transport priorities, particularly the role of walking and cycling. In other words, should non-motorized modes be considered <em>real</em> transportation. </p>
BLOG POST
On the Risks and Responsbilities of Living (in Cities)
<p> Last summer, most of the nation was justifiably outraged when<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/25/raquel-nelson-this-will-never-end_n_908448.html"> Raquel Nelson was convicted of vehicular homicide</a> because her four-year old son stepped off a median into <a href="http://www.ajc.com/news/cobb/pedestrian-convicted-of-vehicular-1014879.html">oncoming traffic and was killed</a>. Common sense alone should have kept this case from going to trial, but I believe this case should have raised a bigger and more encompassing issue for planners and a question of social ethics: What is the responsibility we take as individuals for the choices we make living in an urban environment? </p>
BLOG POST
Planning Accreditation Board seeks public comments on proposed new accreditation standards
<p class="MsoNormal"> The PAB is proposing a substantial revision of the standards and criteria for accreditation of university planning programs. A public comment period on the proposal has just opened and lasts through 15 December. Here's what PAB says about the changes: </p> <p> "PAB is pleased to introduce a comprehensive revision of its accreditation standards and criteria. <strong>The goals of the change process include:</strong> </p>
BLOG POST
Should states have environmental review statutes for rezonings?
<p> <span style="color: #2a2a2a"><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman">After reading an article on the misuse of CEQA in California,* I took a short look at New York law.<span> </span>In New York, city planners must prepare an environmental assessment when property is rezoned, and must prepare a more detailed environmental impact statement (EIS) if property has a significant effect on the environment. </span></span></span><span style="color: #2a2a2a"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small"> </span></span> </p>
FEATURE
L.A. Vision, U.S. Promise: Implications of the America Fast Forward Proposal
Long known as a land of sprawl and disconnected communities, Los Angeles has emerged as a leader in transit investments, providing forward-thinking leadership for how infrastructure finance can and should continue, even in difficult financial times, writes Allison Brooks and Darnell Chadwick Grisby of Reconnecting America.
BLOG POST
What Yesterday’s Elections Results Mean for Cities and City Government Across the U.S.
If you can make it past rhetoric around healthcare, abortion, collective bargaining, and immigration, the November 8th election results tell a more cohesive and calming story about American’s political sentiment.
BLOG POST
What is GeoDesign
<p> Shannon McElvaney at ESRI is working on a book on GeoDesign -- a growing movement of academics, community planning and development practitioners, ecosystem managers, and geospatial tool developers interested in the nexus between geography, design, planning, ecosystem management and community decision making. Shannon asked PlaceMatters to contribute to the book, asking us a series of questions. In the process of answering the first question "What does GeoDesign mean to you?" i fell in love with the combination of the two words and how they truely captured the range of interests engaging in the GeoDesign conversation. </p> <p> Here were a couple of my thoughts: </p>
FEATURE
Landscape Architecture Rising
BLOG POST
Why I Gave Up the Bus...For a Bike
<p> In August, I moved into a high density apartment complex just 1.5 miles from my office and a five minute walk to a bus stop. One of the central advantages of the building's location was its access to alternative transportation modes. While I could park my car for "free" (the real cost is built into the lease), I was interested in keeping it parked as much as possible. Now, after nearly three months of experimentation, I'm ready to give up the bus, and the reasons are central to understanding the future of transit in the US. </p>
Clanton & Associates, Inc.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
