Planning

Boise Backing Off Proposed Citywide Zoning Changes
Boise was considering allowing up to four units by-right on any residential parcel in the city, but has since rolled back the scale of the proposed zoning changes.

Seattle Ponders a New Approach to Zoning for its Comprehensive Plan Update
The city of Seattle will have an updated comprehensive plan by the end of 2024, with zoning changes to follow by 2025.

Snohomish County, Washington, Sets its Sights on Sprawl
Advocates say it’s unnecessary, but Snohomish County is preparing to expand its urban growth areas to allow for more low density residential development.

A New Housing ‘Blueprint’ for New York City
With every new mayoral administration in New York City comes a new plan for addressing the city’s housing affordability crisis. Now it’s Mayor Adams’s turn.

Twitter for Planners in 2022
Twitter is changing, not in the way Elon Musk wants it to, but it’s still perhaps the most useful social media platform for planners looking for education and engagement.

St. Paul Approves Master Plan for Thousands of New Jobs and Homes
A new neighborhood dubbed “The Heights” is planned for the East Side of St. Paul, Minnesota.

Buslash in Salt Lake City
New bus routes planned for Salt Lake City have provoked a vocal political opposition.

L.A.'s San Fernando Valley $909 Million Closer to Light Rail
The last time rail transit crossed L.A.'s San Fernando Valley was in the early 1950s.

What Is Incremental Planning?
The concept of incrementalism can be applied to numerous fields and disciplines—one of which is planning. In the field of planning, the word incremental is usually used as an adjective to describe other planning words, such as code reform and development.

Southern California Freeway Expansion Plans Scrapped
After more than a decade of planning, Caltrans has officially dropped the I-710 Corridor Project, a plan to widen Interstate 710 for a long stretch of the freeway near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Feds to Award $13 Million for Transit Oriented Development Planning
A newly bolstered competitive grant program administered by the Federal Transit Administration has announced a new round of funding.

What Is a Planning Commission?
Planning commissions fill an influential advisory role in planning processes, maintaining citizen oversight of government planning powers and also providing a public forum for debate about the future of communities.

Fairfax County, Virginia Releases Climate Adaptation Plan
Fairfax County, Virginia estimates that climate change caused $25 million in damages from 2010 to 2019. A new plan is meant to prevent worse losses in the years and decades to come.

New Community Engagement Practices for Seattle’s Comprehensive Plan Update
A major update of Seattle’s comprehensive plan is just getting under way, with new opportunities for local groups to get involved with outreach and engagement.

Six-Story Parking Lot Nixed From D.C. Union Station Renovation Plans
The Federal Railroad Administration has removed a six-story parking facility included in a 2020 draft Environmental Impact Statement for a $10 billion renovation of Union Station in Washington, D.C.

Planning for Congestion Relief
The third and final installment of Planetizen's examination of the role of the planning profession in both perpetuating and solving traffic congestion.

Superyachts Calling the Shots for How Light Rail Gets Built in Seattle
Determinations made by the Coast Guard to accommodate superyachts will affect the price of light rail and other bridge projects in Seattle and environs.

What Is a Planned Unit Development?
A Planned Unit Development (PUD) is a specific type of plan or development commonly associated with master planned communities and sprawl. The specific definitions of a PUD vary by jurisdiction, but the term generally refers to a flexible approach to the planning of a variety of housing types and land uses on a relatively large portion of land.

What Is LOS?
Level of Service (LOS) defines how well vehicle traffic flows along a street or road. LOS is one of the most influential metrics in planning, with critical relevance for both land use and transportation planning.

How Planning Fails to Solve Congestion
Solutions for congestion are never as simple and easy as armchair planners and engineers would like you to believe—especially those who suggest that congestion can be solved by forever building more roadway capacity.
Pagination
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