Neighborhoods

The Ambition of Trulia Neighborhoods, Served With a Side of Caution
Can Trulia succeed in making sense of neighborhoods for an online platform?

Trulia's New Feature Shows How Much Home Buyers Care About Location
Real estate site Trulia has launched a new tool that acts as a one-stop shop for information on neighborhoods.

Friday Fun: Ranking the Ballpark Neighborhoods of Major League Baseball
The Midsummer Classic is over, and the dog days of summer are looming. Not every team has a chance at October baseball, but some still offer a lot to love in the neighborhood outside the ballpark.

Do Amenities Matter?
Marla Nelson of The University of New Orleans and and Renia Ehrenfeucht of the University of New Mexico, guest blog about a recent article in the Journal of Planning Education and Research.

APA-Texas Acknowledges the Great Places of the Lone Star State
There are a lot of great places to celebrate in Texas, and the state chapter of the American Planning Association is in the second year of a program that calls attention to the role of planners in making them happen.

Critiquing Austin's North Shoal Creek Neighborhood Plan
A local resident reviews an important new neighborhood plan in Austin from a pro-development and livability perspective.
Explained: Keys to Affordability in Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances
Zoning ordinances are one of the most powerful ways local governments regulate development, and they should work to implement the policies in a Comprehensive Plan Update.
Another Philadelphia Developer Tries to Rebrand a Whole Neighborhood
It turns out that locals don't like self-interested, unilateral decisions that erase the place names of the past.

Friday Friendly: More Houses Should Have Patios in the Front
With so many houses oriented to the privacy of backyards, one street in St. Louis has redefined neighborly by orienting their sitting and relaxation areas to the front yard.

New York Lawmaker Would End New Marketing Nicknames for Neighborhoods
There will be no SoHa (South Harlem), if the state approves new legislation that allows the city to block real estate brokers from assigning new shorthand to neighborhoods in the hopes of boosting real estate listings.

The Scourge of Setbacks
Accepted by planners as a way to make buildings feel less 'crowded' and baked into many zoning codes, setbacks achieve no benefit other than giving opponents of development a bargaining chip.

A Changing Neighborhood Is Not an Unstable One
Disavowing the perils of NIMY-ism. The difference between stability and sameness and allowing a city to change
The 'Missing Middle' Affordable Housing Solution
Karen Parolek discusses the 'Missing Middle' that is too often overlooked in discussions about affordable housing.

New Orleans Planning Commission Recommends Limits for Short-Term Rentals
The New Orleans City Council must still approve regulations for short-term rentals, but the Planning Commission has spoken.
How Cities Are Responding to Rising Commercial Rents
A new report examines how high rents are shuttering businesses and stunting entrepreneurship, exploring six strategies used by cities to create an affordable built environment, where local businesses can thrive.
Los Angeles' Plan to Keep 'Bootleg' Units Affordable
Los Angeles is moving toward creating a path to amnesty and affordability for habitable, but unpermitted residential units.
Detroit's Business Community Ties Its Fate to Detroit's Neighborhoods
The Detroit Regional Chamber made an explicit show of solidarity with the concerns of neighborhood revitalization in the many neighborhoods of the city.

Socially-Blind Urban Planning
In this era of increased inequality, socially-blind urban planning is morally questionable. Specifically, on the issue of homelessness in America, there are three problems to which planners need to pay particular attention.

Chicago Universities Commit to Bolstering Growth
Eight Chicago universities have agreed to engage with the city and local communities as they invest in their neighborhoods. The hope is to increase opportunities for employment and economic growth.
Anaheim, Home to Disneyland, Proving Popular for Short-Term Rentals
Anaheim is struggling to keep up with a glut of houses in residential neighborhoods being used as short-term rentals catering to Disneyland's crowds. The city is profiting, but neighborhoods, perhaps, are not.
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