The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Touring Midtown Megaprojects with Bob Yaro
Bob Yaro of the Regional Plan Association walks around Midtown Manhattan, reflecting on the effect megaprojects like the modern Penn Station and Javits Center have had on the city.
Sustainable Chalupas?
A new KFC/Taco Bell combo restaurant in Northhampton, Massachusetts has been awarded LEED certification.
Tram-Train Technology Debuts
European cities are experimenting with trains that can switch from heavy rail (to reach suburbs on existing tracks) and street-running fixed link systems (to reach city centers).
Getting Solar Power Rolling
This profile from <em>Miller-McCune</em> looks at a Berkeley, California official who made use of a 100-year old funding mechanism to take the city solar.
Will Plan It Calgary Lead Canada in Urban Sustainability?
Calgary's proposed plan "Plan It" seeks to lay out the city's future for the next 60 years, and it represents a dramatic shift away from unregulated suburbanization. It faces a lot of opposition.
FEATURE
Megaregions and Megaproblems
As America's metropolitan areas meld into "megaregions", officials and policymakers will need to figure out how to deal with their shared and growing infrastructure problems. Consider the ball rolling.
BLOG POST
Memo From Future Self: Hope For The Best But Prepare For the Worst
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri">Planning issues are often considered to be conflicts between the interests of different groups, such as neighborhood residents versus developers, or motorist versus transit users. But planning concerns the future, so it often consists of a conflict between the interests of our current and future selves. </span> </p>
The Most Dangerous Neighborhood in the U.S.
NeighborhoodScout.com used GIS and FBI data from 17,000 local law enforcement agencies to compile its list of the 25 worst neighborhoods for crime in the country.
Obama's Weatherization Program in Action
Van Jones tours a weatherization project in D.C., part of the $5 billion the Obama Administration is putting into weatherization projects to cut energy costs. (VIDEO)
Rusting Robot Sleeps in Alabama
A public art piece at the University of Alabama represents the end of the iron industry in the surrounding region, portrayed a as a sleeping, rusted robot.
Hartford Citizens Call For Highway Removal
An elevated section of 1-84 cut right through downtown Hartford. As repair plans are put in place, citizens are calling for the stretch of highway to be torn down instead.
Historic Trolleys Almost Scrapped
St. Joseph, Missouri, facing low ridership on its historic trolleys, put them in storage. Five years later, the city is unsure what to do with their non-working streetcars.
Convention Centers Not Living Up to Expectations
In this article from <em>Next American City</em>, Josh Stephens looks at the role convention centers play in cities, the high hopes cities have for them, and the often poor returns they offer.
Florida Anti-Growth Amendment to Put Land Use Decisions in Voter's Hands
Amendment 4 would require city and county comprehensive plans to go in front of the voters to be approved. It has been approved for a 2010 ballot.
The Challenge of Adaptive Reuse
City manager of Phoenix Frank Fairbanks talks about how the city created a program to advise residents on how to effectively and creatively reuse old buildings.
New Report: Use Cap & Trade Revenue To Invest In Smart Growth
Cap and trade is the topic du jour in climate change circles. A new report from CCAP makes the economic case for using those revenues to promote smart growth that reduces transportation emissions though VMT reductions.
Climate Change is Local, Says Chu
U.S. Energy Secretary Stephen Chu said at the Asia Society Washington, D.C. center awards dinner that "climate change is the greatest challenge facing science."
FEATURE
REVIEW: Welcome to the Urban Revolution
In his new book<em> Welcome to the Urban Revolution: How Cities are Changing the World</em>, Jeb Brugmann proposes a new way of thinking about citybuilding. Planetizen Correspondent Michael Dudley has this review.
BLOG POST
The Two Types of Bicyclist
<p> I am a bicycle commuter in Los Angeles, which on the face of it is a pretty tricky proposition. The major boulevards here are designed like freeways, and people use them as such. Pico, Highland, Sepulveda, Olympic- these streets were built for speed and make commuting not a little tricky for your serious bicycle commuter. </p>
BLOG POST
How Much Green for the 'Green'?
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri">As attention to energy efficiency and climate change continue to pervade the thinking and planning of the future transportation system, we are increasingly challenged to make very real decisions about the prudence of various investments. The current context for decision-making offers perhaps the greatest uncertainty regarding the future witnessed in the lifetimes of people in the planning profession today.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
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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.
