New York City

Unaffordable, Growing Cities Lag on New Housing Permits

Stephen Smith follows up on an earlier report of New York City housing permits with a report on the entire metropolitan area. Included for comparison are the numbers of housing permit filings for metropolitan areas around the country.

February 15, 2015 - New York YIMBY

A Valentine's Day Message from Diversity Plaza in New York City

We at Planetizen hope that there's lots of love in your day today.

February 14, 2015 - StreetsBlog NYC

Will Upzoning Destroy the Beaux Arts Legacy of Midtown Manhattan?

A development proposal for a 1,450 glass skyscraper adjacent to Grand Central Station prompted the Architectural Record to wonder whether New York is chipping away the "Beaux Arts heart" of Manhattan.

February 13, 2015 - Architectural Record

Op-Ed: New York's Affordable Housing More Corrupt than Helpful

A columnist takes the recent scandal involving disgraced former New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver as a particularly heinous example of how far astray affordable housing policy is from its intended goal.

February 12, 2015 - Real Clear Policy

Report: Balance Needed for New York's Manhattan-Centric Transit System

The Regional Plan Association released a report this week finding New York's transit system to be irrationally skewed toward Manhattan service. The report proposes a list of capital projects to correct the imbalance.

February 11, 2015 - Regional Plan Association

Renters Predominate in Low-Cost and High-Cost Cities

A report by New York University’s Furman Center found that renters made up the majority of households in nine of the 11 largest cities in the U.S. in 2013, up from five in 2006. The demand is straining the supply of rental housing.

February 10, 2015 - The Wall Street Journal

How New York's Luxury Housing Market Stashes Anonymous Foreign Wealth

The New York Times ran a massive feature documenting the rise of foreign real estate investment in New York City, enabled by the anonymity of limited liability corporations.

February 9, 2015 - The New York Times

Measuring Brainwaves to Map the Stress Level of Bike Routes

Anyone who uses a bike to navigate their city knows that every ride has stretches that are much more stressful than others. A new project collects data from brainwaves to map the stress levels of bikers in New York City.

February 8, 2015 - Wired

Poking around the New York Subway for Germs

Researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College have spent the last 18 months scouring the New York Subway in the search for a DNA profile of the system. They even created a map of the 15,152 microbes they found.

February 6, 2015 - Science Daily

The Return of the Ferry to the Big Apple—to All Five Boroughs

Ferries, New York City's first commuter mode, will return big-time if Mayor Bill de Blasio gets his way. Judging by how well the proposal in his February 3 State of the City address was received, he will.

February 6, 2015 - The New York Times - N.Y. / Region

Parks—or Playgrounds for Billionaires?

New York may be the most famous example of the parks becoming the most conspicuous signifiers of neighborhoods for the haves, versus the have-nots, but Inga Saffron hopes that cities everywhere can find ways to even the playing fields.

February 4, 2015 - The New Republic

Mayor de Blasio Stresses Affordable Housing in State of the City Address

In his State of the City Address on Feb. 3, the New York City mayor made it clear that his overriding priority is affordable housing. He targeted six neighborhoods in all five boroughs where development will be required to include affordable housing.

February 4, 2015 - New York Observer

New York Homeless Population Grows Amid Shortage of Services

The New York Daily News focuses on the de Blasio Administration's efforts to combat a growing number of homeless in New York City.

February 2, 2015 - New York Daily News

Pedestrian and Bike Improvements Coming to Brooklyn's DUMBO Neighborhood

The New York City Department of Transportation is moving forward with a series of pedestrian and bike infrastructure improvements in a neighborhood built in the shadow of some of the city's most highest profile transportation infrastructure.

January 30, 2015 - StreetsBlog NYC

Inequality and Informality in New York

For a MoMA exhibition about urban inequality, Brooklyn architects SITU Studios documented informal housing in New York.

January 29, 2015 - Arup Connect

Times Square Historic

From Times Square: How Many Pedestrians Is Too Many Pedestrians?

Times Square stakeholders have begun to raise the specter of "too much of a good thing," as the crowds flocking to Times Square threaten to squeeze the life out of the place.

January 29, 2015 - New York Times

Critic Finds Merits in Brooklyn Public Library Redevelopment Plans

Two proposals for library makeovers in Brooklyn tie into a larger narrative about development, and architecture, in New York City.

January 27, 2015 - New York Times

Statistics Show NYPD Enforcing Vision Zero Pedestrian Safety Initiative

The law enforcement results are in from the first year of Vision Zero policy in New York City.

January 27, 2015 - StreetsBlog NYC

On New York's Shadow Transportation System: 'Dollar Vans'

The New Yorker has published an interactive feature in New York's shadow transit system—the network of so-called "dollar vans."

January 25, 2015 - The New Yorker

Community Gardens are Collateral Damage in New York's Affordable Housing Plans

Here's a head scratcher: in its ambition to meet the affordable housing goals of Mayor Bill de Blasio, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development has proposed the redevelopment of 15 community gardens on city-owned property.

January 24, 2015 - Brownstoner

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.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.