The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Apartment Building

Minnesota Investing $346 Million in Affordable Housing

A $988 million bonding bill approved by Minnesota state legislators earlier this year is paying off in funding for affordable housing projects around the state.

October 22 - MPR News

An Architectural Review of Toyota's New Texas Headquarters

Toyota Motor Company of North America has arrived in Texas.

October 21 - The Dallas Morning News

Wood Fire Smoke

California to Implement Wood Smoke Reduction Program

The program is voluntary, providing incentives to replace older, uncertified wood stoves for cleaner replacements or alternatives. In addition to decreasing air pollution, it reduces emissions of a "super climate pollutant," black carbon.

October 21 - California State Senate

Coal Railroad

Spokane Voters to Decide Whether to Regulate Oil and Coal Trains

Proposition 2, the Safer Spokane Initiative, would require railroads to reduce health and safety risks posed by certain types of oil and coal trains traveling through specified parts of the city or risk being fined.

October 21 - The Spokesman-Review

Seattle Electric Bus

Seattle's Bus Ridership Growing While Rest of the Country Goes the Other Direction

Transit malls and voter support have buoyed a system that continues to attract commuters and other riders.

October 21 - CityLab


London Air Pollution

Study: Pollution Kills 9 Million People Every Year

The Lancet Commission study comes at a time when the Trump Administration is rolling back environmental regulations from a number of sectors.

October 21 - The Guardian

Los Angeles Traffic - The Newhall Pass

Massive Newhall Ranch Deal Will Expand L.A. County's Footprint

FivePoint Holdings will pay $25 million for environmental preservation, in exchange for access to the undeveloped L.A. County land.

October 20 - Los Angeles Times


Brightline

Florida's Brightline to Break Ground on Delayed Orlando Leg

The second phase of the highly anticipated Brightline express train service is finally moving forward after unanticipated delays.

October 20 - The Next Miami

California

Integrating Environmental Justice Into Planning Processes

National City, California pioneered a model for implementing environmental justice considerations into planning processes—state law compels states to follow National City's leadership.

October 20 - Next City

House for sale

Navigating the Unchartered Waters of U.S. Housing Policy: Current Challenges and Solutions

Vincent Reina, Penn IUR Faculty Fellow, writes about the current state of U.S. housing policy.

October 20 - Penn IUR Urban Link

Mountain Waterfall

Friday Eye Candy: Mapping a World of Water Words

Cultures and geography have created a dictionary's worth of words for water. A new video from Vox maps (most of) them out.

October 20 - Vox

Wine Country Fires

Wildfire Destroys Santa Rosa Neighborhood Outside of Fire Hazard Zone

The Wine Country wildfires destroyed Coffey Park, a subdivision within the urban boundaries of the Bay Area's fifth largest city, and outside of the state's severe fire hazard zones. But the cause wasn't a mystery to wildland fire scientists.

October 20 - Los Angeles Times

San Francisco Density

San Francisco Mayor Calls for Quicker Approvals for New Housing

San Francisco Mayor, Ed Lee, released his directive saying the city should be approving the building or renovating of 5,000 units a year.

October 20 - San Francisco Business Journal

Chicago Extreme Weather

Chicago to Use Vacant Lots to Capture Stormwater

Chicago's Planning Department is putting eight city lots to work as "Stormwater Parks."

October 20 - Chicago Cityscape

Sprawl

Suburban Office Parks Gain New Life As Millennials Grow Up

With some tweaks and upgrades, surburban office parks are reinventing themselves to attract new tenants and the millennials ready to start families in the 'burbs.

October 20 - Bloomberg

How's My Driving

Friday Funny: Crass Bumper Sticker Finally Coughs Up its Traffic Data

You know the bumper sticker. It's the one that begins with the words "How's My Driving?" and ends with a 1-800 number.

October 20 - The Onion

Car2Go

Car2Go Says Goodbye Smart Car, Hello Mercedes

Car2Go is giving an upgrade to its car sharing service in Portland, OR by phasing out the tiny Smarts in favor of larger Mercedes-Benz luxury vehicles.

October 19 - OregonLive.com

Burrito

Drone Delivery Reaches the Burrito Phase

Delivery-by-drone continues to make strides to becoming a feasible reality, as testing in rural Australia has seen burritos fly through the air from restaurant to customers' back yards.

October 19 - The Guardian

Cincinnati Bus

Cincinnati Looking for Transit Budget Solutions

Fare increases, a new tax, and a system redesign are some of the ideas on the table for Cincinnati's bus system as its operating transit agency struggles to deal with budget shortfalls.

October 19 - Cincinnati Business Courier

Amazon Fulfillment Center

BLOG POST

War Rooms, Tax Breaks, and Sappy Videos—It's Deadline Day for Amazon HQ2

In a first for urbanism, Amazon turned a request for proposals into a hashtag. Welcome to #AmazonHQ2 day.

October 19 - James Brasuell

Post News

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.

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

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.