Infrastructure

Cities Map—and Track Benefits—of Urban Forest

OpenTreeMap allows cities to inventory trees and see the environmental and economic benefits.

April 16, 2014 - FastCompany Exist

Regional Water Authority DOA in Detroit

One of the unanswered questions of Detroit’s post-bankruptcy future is what will happen with the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, especially after negotiations to create a regional authority ended in failure this week.

April 16, 2014 - Detroit Free Press

A Special Focus on Planning for Healthy Schools

SAGE has provided free access to material from the Journal of Planning Education and Research's focus issue on Healthy Schools.

April 16, 2014 - JPER

Illinois Bike Transportation Plan Could Be a Game Changer

The Illinois Bike Transportation Plan has the potential to impact the design of state roads in the purview of the Illinois Department of Transportation: 2,775 miles, or nine percent of the total mileage, of road in the Chigagoland region.

April 16, 2014 - Chi.Streetsblog

Trinity River Dallas Floodplain

Flood Concerns Raised Over Trinity Toll Road Proposal in Dallas

Details are emerging about the proposed Trinity Toll Road in Dallas. The route’s proximity to the Trinity River has provided more fuel for the project’s opponents.

April 15, 2014 - Dallas Morning News

An Appeal for Churches to Embrace Multi-Modalism

As a result of the dominant development patterns and transportation practices of the 20th century, churches have receded in their role as an anchors for neighborhoods and broader communities.

April 14, 2014 - Strong Towns

Texas’ Drought Prompts Calls for Water Management Improvements

A recent article details the rapid growth, evaporating surface storage capacity, and manicured lawns worsening drought conditions in Texas (no, not California).

April 14, 2014 - Next City

As the Seas Rise, Cities 'Dither'

The world’s coastal cities now face an impossible situation as a result of climate change. While the impacts and catastrophes become inevitable, why do cities like San Francisco dither rather than act?

April 14, 2014 - SPUR

Cloud Computing Company Will Have its Name in the Clouds above San Francisco

It is only fitting that Salesforce, whose logo is a cloud, won the naming rights to what will be the West Coast's tallest building when completed in 2017 where they will lease half the space. When the fog rolls in, that's all the workers will see!

April 14, 2014 - San Francisco Chronicle

Can Detroit Fix its Parking Enforcement Mess?

In a recent column for Detroit Free Press, Nancy Kaffer responded to a proposal by Detroit Mayor Kevin Orr to raise the price of a parking ticket in Detroit by $20 to $45.

April 13, 2014 - Detroit Free Press

My First Ride

How Well Does Light Rail Attract New Transit Riders?

The answer to the question in the headline is “not very.” Thirty years into the initial experiment, however, light rail has not been the game changer it was hoped to be.

April 13, 2014 - Atlantic Cities

Santa Barbara sidewalk

Caltrans Really Is Becoming More Bike and Walk Friendly

News flash: California has become only the third state to endorse the National Association of City Transportation Officials’ (NACTO) Urban Street Design Guidelines to enable more walk and bike friendly projects such as protected bike lanes.

April 12, 2014 - NACTO

A Call to Undo the 'Cul-De-Sacking' of St. Louis

A recent nextSTL.com editorial makes an impassioned plea to open the city’s closed streets.

April 11, 2014 - nextSTL.com

Mapping the U.S. Mexico Border Fence

Journalists at the Center for Investigative Reporting undertook the herculean task of mapping the extent of the secretive and sometimes strange fence between the United States and Mexico.

April 11, 2014 - Center for Investigative Reporting

Sidewalk

A Call to Flâner, for Spatial Justice

The concept of the flâneur was created in the 19th century in response to the encroaching speed and efficiency of the Industrial Age. Can the flâneur now fashion a political response to the Age of the Automobile?

April 11, 2014 - Fast Forward Weekly

Quito BRT

Controversies Compared: Rail vs. Bus Rapid Transit

A common perception says that rail is the most politically difficult transit investment. Yet a recent article examines the examples of Nashville and Cincinnati to claim that sometimes, political opposition is just about transit, period.

April 10, 2014 - Greater Greater Washington

Boston Subway Tremont Construction

The Original Big Digs

The gridlock in American cities today doesn't compare to the crush on streets in Boston and New York City in the mid- to late-1800s. In The Race Underground, Doug Most chronicles the occasionally synchronous development of the nation’s first subways.

April 10, 2014 - Josh Stephens

More on the High Cost of Infrastructure

A recent editorial in Atlantic Cities laments the regulations and policies that have, according to the author, driven up the costs of infrastructure investments in the United States.

April 8, 2014 - Atlantic Cities

The Numbers Behind the Country’s Decreasing Traffic Fatalities

Susannah Locke examines some of the data behind the United State’s steady decrease in auto fatalities since a peak in 1969, when 55,043 people died while driving.

April 7, 2014 - Vox

After Mayoral Scandal, What Next for Charlotte's Permitting Reform, Streetcar Project?

Former Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon resigned after taking bribes in exchange for zoning and parking privileges. Will the fallout affect the city's streetcar plans or its efforts to streamline permitting and code enforcement?

April 7, 2014 - Charlotte Observer

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.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.