Community Planning
Is Hollywood Ready for a Makeover?
A new Community Plan for Hollywood is making its way through the Los Angeles City Council, to the delight of the Mayor and the Planning Commission, and to the consternation of some community groups.
Los Angeles Retooling its Neighborhood Representation Experiment
After 10 years in operation, the Neighborhood Council system in L.A. represents a great deal of unfulfilled potential, say City Councilmember Paul Krekorian. With that, and the city's dire financial straits in mind, Krekorian is proposing reforms.
Filmmakers Say Planning Process is Broken
The Domino Effect is a new documentary film that explores the process of real estate development in New York City to uncover the complex networks of banks, developers, politicians, and non-profit organizations that shape our cities.
Schools as Agents of Revival in New Orleans
The City of New Orleans is about to undertake a massive reconstruction effort that will reshape and rebuild its entire school system.
Poticha Appointed to HUD Position
Shelley Poticha, President and CEO of Reconnecting America and past executive director of the Congress for New Urbanism, has been appointed Senior Advisor for Sustainable Housing and Communities at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Community-Based Progress in Post-Katrina New Orleans
The grieving period has ended, and now resilient New Orleaneans are taking it upon themselves to rebuild their beloved city. Though it's sure to be a slow process, this could very well be community organization at its best.
Challenges Ahead for Tyson's Corner To Become Livable City
Tyson's Corner, an auto-oriented suburb of Washington, D.C., reveals ambitious plans to become a dense, urban community. Officials are bracing themselves for tough opposition from locals. The Washington Post story includes a video report.
Facilitating A Community Dialog On The Internet
The City of Oak Harbor, Washington is giving residents a chance to sound off about planning and development issues on several blogs.
Planning in Venezuela's Communal Councils
This article from Progressive Planning looks at the communal councils being set up in Venezuela and the progress they have made in local planning efforts.
An unheralded conference
I had the opportunity to spend a day at the Vacant Properties conference late last month which, if you’re not familiar with the “movement,” you should be. Granted it’s not for everyone. At the opening plenary session, the moderator asked “who is here from a weak market city?” A room full of hands went up with a collective giggle. It felt like an AA meeting for cities. Admitting you have a problem is the first step toward addressing it.
A Guide to Taser-Free Public Meetings
We all saw it on the Internet—the fellow at a public meeting being hauled away from the microphone before getting wrestled to the floor and tasered during a Q&A with John Kerry. Fortunately, silencing argumentative speakers with a taser is not a common occurrence at most public meetings. While I might confess that there have been meetings where, in retrospect, one might have secretly wished one was armed with a stun gun, facilitators generally try to avoid confrontation. Yet there’s no denying that sometimes people show up at public meetings looking for a fight, begging for outrage, and hoping to irritate and inflame.
Does planning = zoning?
I would like to think that the overwhelming response to the question posed in the title would be a resounding, "No!" I never gave the issue much thought before last week because frankly, I didn't really need to. Working in a city like Philadelphia where the overwhelming percentage of proposed projects requires a zoning variance, we've trained ourselves to work within an imperfect system and make the best of what's at hand. (It should be noted that Philadelphia is about to embark upon a process to re-vamp the zoning code, but that is for another post in the future). More importantly, the issues faced by some neighborhoods go a lot deeper than zoning. So why this post?
Revisiting Robert Moses
The message from last weekend's two-day symposium at Columbia University, the Queens Museum and the Museum of the City of New York on Robert Moses: many aspects of the master builder's place in history haven't been told, despite Robert Caro's 1,162-page Pulizter Prize-winning biography; and that New York may need to rethink the paradigm for big plans and community engagement as the unique metropolis makes new investments in transit, roadways and large redevelopment projects from Ground Zero to Hudson Yards.
The End of People Power Planning?
Thousands of New Orleanians have participated in planning their post-Katrina future – likely more than in any single American city-planning effort, ever. Unfortunately, the New Orleans experience definitively demonstrates the limits of orthodox community-focused planning, the kind that has been neighborhood-based and consensus-driven.
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 Santa Clarita
Ascent Environmental
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
