Recreation
California's Top-Rated Park for Hikers Is Inside the City of LA
According to AllTrails, a popular fitness and travel mobile app, Topanga State Park has many highly-rated trails, most of which are of moderate difficulty and vary in length from three to seven miles.
Using Data and Partnerships to Build Sports Facilities
Data and partnerships have supported the recent development and improvement of sports facilities in underserved communities in Los Angeles County.
BLM Releases New Plan for Moab Area
The plan limits motorized recreation to protect natural and cultural resources.
Advancing Park Equity Through Needs Assessments
City Parks Alliance, in partnership with Prevention Institute, recently hosted a webinar about park equity and collaboration, focusing on the Los Angeles Countywide Parks Needs Assessment.
Diverse Perspectives of America Outdoors
Best-selling writer, podcaster and comedian Baratunde Thurston travels the country to better understand and explain people's complex relationship with the outdoors in a series on PBS.
Recreational Programming Helps Communities to Thrive
Los Angeles County's popular and award-winning Parks After Dark program offers multiple important benefits, as documented in a recent UCLA study.
The Geekiest Cities in America
Which cities have the most comic book shops, D&D meetups, and LARPing groups?
50 Years Later: Anacostia River to Welcome Swimmers
The Washington, D.C. region has accomplished a major environmental victory, cleaning up the Anacostia River enough for humans to swim in for the first time in five decades.
Summer Fun at Los Angeles County Parks
L.A. County's popular and award-winning Parks After Dark program returns for the summer, providing opportunities for residents to come together in safe and welcoming spaces where they can access quality programming and a variety of services.
Improving Communities Through Soccer
LEGO has partnered with the U.S. Soccer Foundation to create a new safe place for kids to play soccer and gain life skills in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Expanding Access to Golf in South Los Angeles
L.A. County’s Maggie Hathaway Golf Course getting up to $15 Million from U.S. Open Community Legacy Project to expand access to the sport in South L.A.
Addressing the Noise Impacts of Pickleball
Pickleball may be America's fastest growing sport, but it is not universally loved because of the noise it causes. Learn one expert's ideas for mitigating the noise impacts.
Can Pickleball Save Dying Malls?
The popular sport is getting backlash for taking over parks and other facilities. Now, the industry is partnering with mall developers to transform old department stores into pickleball courts.
Data-Driven Effort to Re-envision Conservation and Prioritize Vulnerable Communities
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has approved the 2022 Parks Needs Assessment Plus (PNA+), which focuses on environmental conservation and restoration, regional recreation, and rural recreation.
Want to Swim in the Potomac? Army Corps to Study the Possibility
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could soon study how to legalize swimming in the rivers around the nation’s capital—a scenario that would have seemed impossible in the not-too-distant past.
New Density Control Measure to Close Some New York Streets to Cars
To encourage recreational walking while practicing social distancing in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19, Gov. Andrew Cuomo asked the New York City mayor and city council speaker to devise a pilot project to provide for open streets.
MLK Jr. Drive in Philadelphia Closed to Motor Vehicles During Pandemic
The closure will give cyclists and pedestrians a safe roadway to use while maintaining social distancing.
Coming Soon to D.C.: Rivers Clean Enough for Swimming
A tremendous open space and recreation addition could be on the horizon for residents of Washington, D.C., but there's still work to do in cleaning the Potomac and Anacostia rivers.
Monument Review: Recreation a Larger Economic Benefit Than Ranching and Timber Combined
Why is the Department of Interior considering a reduction of the size of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument?
In New Jersey, Beach Parking Located Right on the Sand
This summer, the seashore town of Wildwood is charging a fee for people with the right cars to park in a very convenient location.
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 Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
