NIMBYs
Aspen Presses Pause on New Construction, Short-Term Rentals
Residents and elected officials of the famously wealthy mountain town of Aspen don't like the way the city is headed.
On Housing, Cities' Traditional Political Labels No Longer Apply
Historically liberal cities belie their supposed concern for human welfare by rejecting new development. Meanwhile, more conservative cities have seized the moment to become more progressive, innovative, and inclusive.
Land Use Regulations on a Collision Course in California
The future of planning in California depends on how lawyers reconcile the Housing Accountability Act with the California Environmental Quality Act.
Cities Finding Ways to Resist State-Mandated Upzoning
The resistance to state-mandated zoning reforms, already well underway in Oregon, is now starting to whiplash through California as well.
Local Group Ordered to Pay $500K Bond for Delaying Affordable Housing Project
What starts as a familiar story about a local group wielding the California Environmental Quality Act to delay an affordable housing project includes a surprise twist: another state law requires the group to cover some of the cost of the delay.
Zoning and the Global Supply Shortage
Zoning has been blamed for a lot of things in recent years, but a global supply crunch increasing prices and creating shortages of household goods—and potentially ruining the holidays—is a new one.
As Solar Scales Up, Development Controversies Follow
Utility-scale solar is increasingly looking east to develop new facilities and encountering a common form of resistance from local communities.
Bus Lane Plans Continue Retreat in New York City—This Time it's Fifth Avenue
The de Blasio administration caved to the interests of a Manhattan real estate developer and shelved a plan to prioritize bus transit over private automobiles on one of the most famous corridors in the world.
Lessons From Past Bike Lane Controversies Rarely Inform Present Debates
History repeats itself with the political controversies created by bike lanes.
The Consequences of Community Engagement
Long, onerous environmental review processes focused on public input can cause major delays and cost increases for infrastructure and transportation projects.
Judge Caps Enrollment at UC Berkeley Pending Environmental Impact Report
An Alameda County judge dealt a stunning rebuke of a plan to expand the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, with housing and new space for the Goodman School of Public Policy.
Wealthy Bay Area Communities Fight Housing Targets
Some California cities and counties are appealing regional housing allocations, which could have a meaningful impact on how and where development occurs over the next decade.
Locals Vehemently Oppose Venice Beach Homeless Housing
The controversies about homelessness in what was once a beach community full of hippies and surfers has boiled over in response to a large proposed development of supportive housing on a surface parking lot owned by the city.
The Problem With Anti-Commercial NIMBYism
Some people oppose commercial development in working-class neighborhoods, fearing gentrification. But if nothing that makes a place more desirable can be built, jobs will become less accessible to those neighborhoods—an obviously absurd result.
Controversial Comprehensive Plan Update Moves Forward in Charlottesville
Residents have had a chance to oppose the new residential density proposed by the "Charlottesville Plans Together" comprehensive planning process.
Water, Affordable Housing on a Collision Course in California
Marin County, the wealthy county in the North Bay Area with a history of exclusionary land use and transportation practices, is using the shortage of water to justify blocking the development of an affordable housing project.
Bikelash Wins in Phoenix
Neighborhood opposition overwhelmed a plan to reduce the number of vehicles lanes on North Central Avenue to make space for a new bike lane, despite evidence of the benefits of the proposed street reconfiguration.
San Diego Residents Challenge the City's ADU Regulations
Residents in some of the city's single-family neighborhoods worry about the potential impacts of ADU construction on local character and parking.
Transitional Housing Project Rejected Due to Parking Concerns
The nonprofit developer of a transitional housing project in Dorchester, Massachusetts argues that most residents of the proposed project won't own cars, but neighbors worry the added density will put a strain on local parking.
Density Skepticism and Neighborhood Protection
Resistance mounts to the zoning reforms gaining traction in the United States.
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
