Want to engage kids in your summer city planning projects? 12-year-old Roman Borys gives some pointers on how to host a Minecraft lounge in your downtown.
"Last summer in Winnipeg, me, my mother, a couple of my friends, and the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ put together a Minecraft lounge. Now some of you have probably already read a blog last year that my mom wrote about this same Minecraft lounge. Her blog also included a piece about Pokémon GO, so this is the same thing from a different point of view (and no Pokémon GO)."
Roman goes through the steps he took to create the lounge, along with what he learned from the process.
"This experience helped a lot of kids (and adults) learn a little bit more about our downtown and how to make it a better place. It was very fun for everyone and I especially liked working with all the different groups of people. Everyone was very cooperative (with the few exceptions of people who were spawning polar bears in the middle of the street), so we could easily build very big things like the sky metro which would have taken a much longer time had there not been so many people."
One of the seven Downtown Winnipeg Minecraft Lounges. This one was in Chinatown. © Roman Borys, 2016, used with permission.
Our Minecraft model of Memorial Boulevard at Portage Avenue. © Roman Borys, 2016, used with permission.
FULL STORY: Downtown Winnipeg Minecraft Lounge

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.

How Atlanta Built 7,000 Housing Units in 3 Years
The city’s comprehensive, neighborhood-focused housing strategy focuses on identifying properties and land that can be repurposed for housing and encouraging development in underserved neighborhoods.

In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving
Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.

Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan
Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.

Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding
The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.
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.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
Caltrans
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