In an opinion piece for Better! Cities & Towns, Robert Steuteville argues that the Sanford, Florida, case is partly about what happens to a gated development when residents find themselves on the same side of the gate as people they fear.
The recent killing of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by an armed neighborhood watch volunteer named George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida has become a nationwide news story over the past week. Zimmerman has claimed self-defense and has yet to be arrested, which has sparked outrage in cities across the country, and online.
Robert Steuteville sees a reason why he believes planners should be taking notice of the case - the role that "a poorly planned, exclusionary built environment" has played in causing the tragedy.
Steuteville describes the community in which the killing took place - the Retreat at Twin Lakes, a 260-unit gated development of townhouses - and points out the reasons why its auto-oriented layout and context makes pedestrians the object of "pity or suspicion."
For Steuteville, "Martin was killed for being a young black male on foot, foolish enough to walk in an inhospitable environment to the convenience store for a sugar fix...In all of this agitation, the physical environment that discriminates against, and focuses suspicion on, anyone who doesn't drive should not be forgotten."
Thanks to Robert Steuteville
FULL STORY: Gates, sprawl, and 'walking while black'
Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?
LA’s Tree Emergency Goes Beyond Vandalism
After a vandal destroyed dozens of downtown LA trees, Mayor Karen Bass vowed to replace them. Days later, she slashed the city’s tree budget.
Sacramento Leads Nation With Bus-Mounted Bike Lane Enforcement Cameras
The city is the first to use its bus-mounted traffic enforcement system to cite drivers who park or drive in bike lanes.
Seattle Voters Approve Social Housing Referendum
Voters approved a corporate tax to fund the city’s housing authority despite an opposition campaign funded by Amazon and Microsoft.
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.
Ada County Highway District
Clanton & Associates, Inc.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
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