The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Colorado Town Approves Wildfire Management Plan
As Castle Rock faces an increasing threat of wildfires, town officials urge residents to use the recommendations in the plan to eliminate risks and protect their homes against future blazes.

The Pandemic Era
"We are living in the Covid-19 era, not the Covid-19 crisis," Allan Brandt, a historian of science and medicine at Harvard University, told Gina Kolata of the New York Times last October in a review of past pandemics and what we can learn from them.

A Novel Defense Against State-Mandated Density: Mountain Lions
Woodside, a small town in the South Bay Area of California, has invented a new method for resisting state-mandated zoning reforms.

L.A. Reimagines Parking for New Uses
In famously car-centric Los Angeles, developers and city officials are changing the way they view parking space, opting instead to allocate the space to more effective uses.

Op-Ed: Invest More in Chicago's Buses
In addition to funding the city's roadways and trains, Chicago could use new federal infrastructure dollars to shore up its bus system and invest in bus rapid transit that would improve service for riders.

Opinion: High Tech Won't Save Cities
After some notable disappointments in the development of 'smart city' projects, experts are increasingly critical of the movement to use tech to solve urban problems.

San Antonio Officials Remove Invasive Snails During River Walk Draining
As part of the biannual cleaning of the city's prized River Walk, San Antonio officials removed hundreds of invasive snails from the channel.

The Great Plains Real Estate Boom
Cities on the Great Plains were giving away land in recent decades in the hopes of attracting new residents. Now they have a different challenge: responding to a sudden, but still modest, spike in demand.

New York's Commuter Rail Ridership May Never Reach Pre-Pandemic Levels
Shifting commute patterns and the popularity of remote work could pose an existential threat to the New York City region's commuter rail services.

Lawsuit Challenges Zoning to Limit Church Soup Kitchens
Local residents of Brookings, Oregon say a local church's meal services during the pandemic were attracting crime and vagrancy, so the city passed a zoning ordinance that limited the number of days the church could serve meals to two a week.

Opinion: When Transit-Oriented Suburban Mega-Projects Go Too Far
The architecture critic for the Globe and Mail finds fault with two massive development proposals in the Toronto suburbs.

New Master-Planned Community Will Bring Thousands of Homes to Houston Suburbs
A 1,258-acre development is beginning construction near Fulshear, one of Houston's fastest-growing suburbs.

Boise Poised To Revise Zoning Code
The city of Boise is soliciting public input on its plan to revise its zoning code to permit a wider variety of housing options.

Chicago Traffic Cameras Issue Most Tickets to Black and Latino Drivers
The city's controversial traffic camera program tickets Black and Latino motorists more than white drivers. Infrastructure may play a role in why.

Evaluating Transportation Equity: ITE Quickbite
This short new publication by the Institute of Transportation Engineers provides an overview of key transportation equity concepts and describes practical ways to incorporate equity analysis into planning.

Single-Family Homes Appearing Faster Than Any Year Since 2006
The housing construction market is responding to strong demand with a glut of new single-family homes.

San Francisco's First BRT Line Closer to Opening
The Van Ness Avenue Bus Rapid Transit project will bring the first dedicated BRT corridor to San Francisco, nearly two decades after voters approved the project.

One-Third of Homes for Sale Are New, Report Says
New data from Redfin shows strong demand, and an increasing share of the supply, in new homes.

Tim Keane, Atlanta Planning Commissioner, Headed to a New City
Tim Keane, who has led the Atlanta Department of City Planning since 2015, is set to take a new job in a new city.

Magic Johnson Park to Reopen in February
A much-needed park in South Los Angeles will reopen to the public after undergoing major renovations.
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