The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
"Cycle Tracks" for Safety in Cities
Public health researcher Anne Lusk argues that installing bike routes separate from motor vehicles will boost cycling and make compact communities work better.
Whitest Downtown Gets Even Whiter
Portland, Oregon, famed in planning circles, has a diversity problem that is only getting worse. Downtown is getting whiter, while the demographics of the surrounding area get more diverse.
In Manhattan, Shopping and Driving Don't Mix
The New York City Department of Transportation's yearly statistical smorgasbord adds a new tool: neighborhood travel profiles showing how people arrived in eight neighborhoods. In many of them, the number of drivers was in the single digits.
Urban Gondola to Light Rail
Calgary, Alberta is getting inventive with its transit system and considering building an urban gondola to soar high above the city and connect light rail stops.
Forbes' "Best Cities for Jobs 2011"
Joel Kotkin teamed up with Michael Shires to produce the annual Best Cities for Jobs list for <em>Forbes Magazine</em>.
Central Valley & SF Peninsula Battle Over HSR Planning
A compromise high speed rail approach for the Peninsula to have the train use the existing Caltrain corridor without elevating or widening it may have mollified some Peninsula HSR opponents but stirred opposition by Central Valley HSR advocates.
Moving Infill from Policy to Reality
A new organization in California is advocating for reforms to make infill a more viable option for communities around the state of California. Their three talking points: redevelopment, CEQA reform, and parking requirements.
A New Strategy for Shrinking Cities
In this article, Roberta Brandes Gratz argues that demolition-based strategies are not an effective way for shrinking cities to promote revitalization. Instead, she cites a recent auction of blighted homes in New Orleans as a better alternative.
Seattle's Answer to Affordable Housing
Zach Patton details the effects of Seattle's zoning regulation which allows for the construction of "backyard cottages." These cottages, writes the author, are a viable way to increase urban density and provide affordable housing.
Decentralizing Decisionmaking in New Orleans' Recovery
Various plans and strategies have been crafted over the years to try to help New Orleans recover from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. While early plans took a stronger stance, the city is now taking a less heavy-handed approach.
Suburban Growth Still Leads, But in Changing Ways
Suburban population growth in the U.S. is still on the rise, but new trends show that those suburbs closest to urban cores and those farthest away are driving the growth.
BLOG POST
Jane Jacobs on "Truth," Discovery and the Future of the Soviet Union
<p> As just about everyone in the planning profession now knows, this is the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Death-American-Cities-Modern-Library/dp/0679600477/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1304357036&sr=1-1"><em>The Death and Life of Great American Cities</em></a><em> </em>by urbanist icon <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Jacobs">Jane Jacobs</a>. While <em>Death and Life</em> was itself iconic, Jane Jacobs was also a great public intellectual who continually built on her ideas in subsequent books and articles. </p>
Improving Planning in San Francisco
<em>The Wall Street Journal</em> talks with Gabriel Metcalf, executive director of the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association, about where the city is heading and how it needs to change.
The Urban Coyote, Reconsidered
Researchers are now discovering that the urban coyote plays a valuable role in restoring the food chain for the benefit of birds and other species.
A Philosophical Basis for New Urbanism
Raymond Hain says the arguments in favor of New Urbanism are often "murky", and design is in the eye of the beholder. but is there a deeper, philosophical foundation for New Urbanism?
New Design Guidelines for U.S. Embassies
The US State Department Bureau of Overseas Building Operations plans to release new guidelines for design excellence to inform the architecture of embassies around the world.
Improvisation Under the Freeway
A spectacular series of recent photos from Seattle's Colonnade Park built beneath highway I-5 tell the story of adapted urban space.
Can Pod Cars Transform Traffic in Delhi?
Delhi is considering installing "pod cars," known in the U.S. as personal rapid transit or PRT, as a form of public transportation.
Vancouver's Biggest Plan Yet
Vancouver, B.C. is known for its strong commitment to progressive planning, which has resulted in a dense, vibrant downtown. Planning director Brent Toderian explains his city's biggest plan yet.
Celebrating the Mid-Rise Building
Builder Magazine thinks its time to give the mid-rise (4-6 stories) building its due.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Ada County Highway District
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.
