More and more small farmers are turning their farms into tourist attractions in order to keep their land, following a nationwide trend.
As small farmers try to survive during troubled times, some farmers are switching from big commodity crops to a new world of corn mazes, U-pick pumpkin patches, farm stands and espresso machines. It's a newer concept in the American West, though in Europe and in parts of the American East the concept of harvesting the tourist trade to keep farmers in business is well established. In Washington State, where a number of family farms have set up shop, planners have yet to develop standard templates on how to deal with retail businesses on farms, leaving them trying to adapt rules that were written more to accommodate suburban Wal-Marts than to handle traffic around a farm stand.
Thanks to Christian Peralta
FULL STORY: More farmers are turning to tourist trade for livelihood

What ‘The Brutalist’ Teaches Us About Modern Cities
How architecture and urban landscapes reflect the trauma and dysfunction of the post-war experience.

‘Complete Streets’ Webpage Deleted in Federal Purge
Basic resources and information on building bike lanes and sidewalks, formerly housed on the government’s Complete Streets website, are now gone.

The VW Bus is Back — Now as an Electric Minivan
Volkswagen’s ID. Buzz reimagines its iconic Bus as a fully electric minivan, blending retro design with modern technology, a 231-mile range, and practical versatility to offer a stylish yet functional EV for the future.

Ratepayers Could Be on the Hook for Data Centers’ Energy Use
Without regulatory changes, data centers’ high demand for energy would be subsidized by taxpayers, according to a new study.

City Nature Challenge: Explore, Document, and Protect Urban Biodiversity
The City Nature Challenge is a global community science event where participants use the iNaturalist app to document urban biodiversity, contributing valuable data to support conservation and scientific research.

A Lone Voice for Climate: How The Wild Robot Stands Apart in Hollywood
Among this year’s Oscar-nominated films, only The Wild Robot passed the Climate Reality Check, a test measuring climate change representation in storytelling, highlighting the ongoing lack of climate awareness in mainstream Hollywood films.
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.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research