A new film centers on the efforts of one determined inner-city resident to confront the architect who designed the low-income housing project she lives in with her family.
"An urban drama about liberal complacency meeting its match, The Architect places [actress Viola] Davis front and center as Tonya Neeley, a community activist on Chicago's South Side who's trying to gather enough signatures to get her ratty housing project torn down and rebuilt. Degraded by poverty, unemployment, and social collapse, the locals range from indifferent to hostile, while drug-dealing gangbangers who treat the neighborhood as their corporate headquarters menace Tonya with direct threats. Desperate for help, she shows up in the college classroom of Leo Waters (the excellent Anthony LaPaglia), the distinguished architect who designed the projects back in the idealistic '60s, and asks him to sign her petition."
FULL STORY: Middle-class malaise meets inner-city despair in The Architect

San Diego to Rescind Multi-Unit ADU Rule
The city wants to close a loophole that allowed developers to build apartment buildings on single-family lots as ADUs.

Has President Trump Met His Match?
Doug Ford, the no-nonsense premier of Canada's most populous province, Ontario, is taking on Trump where it hurts — making American energy more expensive.

Study: London ULEZ Rapidly Cleaning up Air Pollution
Expanding the city’s ultra low-emission zone has resulted in dramatic drops in particle emissions in inner and outer London.

San Jose Mayor Takes Dual Approach to Unsheltered Homeless Population
In a commentary published in The Mercury News, Mayor Matt Mahan describes a shelter and law enforcement approach to ending targeted homeless encampments within Northern California's largest city.

Atlanta Changes Beltline Rail Plan
City officials say they are committed to building rail connections, but are nixing a prior plan to extend the streetcar network.

Are Black Mayors Being Pushed Out of Office?
The mayors of New York, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh all stand to lose their seats in the coming weeks. They also all happen to be Black.
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.
Resource Assistance for Rural Environments
City of Edmonds
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research