Bay Area
Step Aside San Francisco: The Tech Industry Still Calls the Silicon Valley Home
You wouldn't be alone if you thought the tech industry had shifted its base of operations from the Silicon Valley to San Francisco. A new study of the tech industry's real estate footprint, however, reveals the South Bay's entrenched dominance.
New Year's Gift for Washington and New York City Commuters
Commuters working in New York City and Washington, D.C. will now enjoy transit tickets and passes purchased using pre-tax income.
Popularity of Electric Vehicles Threatens Viability of Bay Area's Express Lanes
The California DMV announced that the maximum of 85,000 Green Clean Air Vehicle Decals had been issued to plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, denying new Volt and plug-in Prius owners the coveted sticker allowing them free access to HOV and HOT lanes.

Have We Got a Game for You: 'Bay Area Regional Planner'
Some people like to leave their work at the office. But maybe you're the kind of planner who likes to turn the largest challenges of the profession into a game to be enjoyed in your free time.
New Report Recommends Tough Medicine to Fix Bay Area's Housing Ailments
A new report by the Bay Area Council argues that the regionwide housing crisis demands a regionwide response, i.e., all nine counties and 101 cities need to build more housing, and if they don't, there needs to be consequences.
Regional Planning Merger One Step Closer to Reality in the Bay Area
The Bay Area is one of the few metro regions in the U.S. with a separate MPO and COG, but that could change after voting members of both the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Association of Bay Area Governments agreed to a merger study.

Can a Single Regional Planning Agency Fix What Ails the Bay Area?
The potential to address the housing and transportation issues of the Bay Area by a single regional agency will be addressed this week.
Saying Bye-Bye to Fireplaces And Wood-Burning Heaters in the Bay Area
In a Bay Area first, new home construction in most of the region will be banned from having these heating devices installed as the result of a rule adopted unanimously by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District on Oct. 21.

Bay Area Warned: Millennials Will Leave if Housing Prices Don't Change
Millennials in the Bay Area are feeling priced out, and may bolt if they can't find housing they can afford.
BART Squeezing Every Inch of Capacity While Waiting for Reinforcements
BART expanded service in September in a display of the lost art of making the most of what they've got.
Bay Area Extreme Commuting for the Love of Larger, Affordable Single Family Homes
It's a tradeoff that 3.9 percent of the Bay Area workforce are willing to make to own an affordable home. It's often not even a choice between living in the city or the suburbs, but the close-in suburbs or the exurbs or San Joaquin Valley.

Book Review: 'The Rise and Fall of Urban Economies: Lessons From S.F. and L.A.'
Reviewer Jon Christensen suggests that an alternative title to this book on urban economic development by four UCLA researchers could be the much simpler, and probably more attention-grabbing, "How San Francisco Beat L.A. — for Now Anyway."

San Francisco Housing Advocates: 'Sue the Suburbs'
Renters' advocates in San Francisco are building a political and fundraising base to legally challenge suburbs that aren't pulling their weight in constructing the housing to meet the demands of population growth.

Where Will Gentrification Happen Next?
This map tool hows gentrification-related statistics by Bay Area neighborhood, helping communities guess where the heaviest gentrification will occur.
Gentrification and the Bay Area's Controversial Growth Management Plan
Is gentrification the inevitable result of land use planning that reduces greenhouse gas emissions by favoring infill development over auto-dependent sprawl? The Urban Displacement Project looks at the unintended effects of Plan Bay Area.
Bay Area Leads the Nation in Reducing Solo Commuters
According to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey on commuting to work, one subregion in the Bay Area can claim accolades for having achieved the largest drop in solo-commuting from 2006, scoring the third lowest drive-alone rate in 2013.

Bay Area Town: 44 Single-Family Homes on a Site Once Considered for 315 Apartments
Lafayette provides a case study of the San Francisco Bay Area housing market.
Bay Area's First Express Lanes Break Ground
The new 23 miles of I-680 express lanes between San Ramon and Walnut Creek in Contra Costa County will begin construction this month, the first of over 500 miles to be built and operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

Homebuyers Return to the Exurbs
It's been a while since 2008, and a new crop of homeowners is colonizing the far-flung exurbs. Mostly foreclosed and even abandoned last time around, the exurbs are still a risky buy.
Surprise Survey Finding on Density in the Bay Area
San Francisco and the Bay Area, known for their exorbitant housing prices and not unrelated, strong NIMBY attitudes, could be softening their opposition toward increasing density in their neighborhoods.
Pagination
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.
Caltrans
Smith Gee Studio
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