Streets

One Way

America's Streets: Two Ways to Urban Regeneration

Dr. William (Billy) Riggs guest blogs about his new research in Journal of Planning Education & Research. Dr. Riggs is Assistant Professor at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo focusing on quantitative community analysis and urban planning policies.

August 20, 2015 - JPER

play fountain

Family-Friendly Downtown Living

What helps make a downtown family friendly? Safe places to play, safe streets, good schools and attainable housing, writes Jennifer Hill.

April 14, 2015 - Community Builders

Broadway Los Angeles

Re-Zoning For Walkability

It often seems that streetscapes' appearances and forms are immutable, but Los Angeles is trying something new. Through a herculean effort called Recode: LA, Los Angeles is rewriting its codes and, consequently, may change how its streets look.

February 23, 2015 - Public CEO

Empire State Building Base

High-Rises and Streetlife

The common claim that "high-rises kill streetlife" is often incorrect.

January 23, 2015 - Michael Lewyn

Street With No Sidewalk

Should a Residential Street Ever Lack Sidewalks?

You're probably familiar with the sight of a long, quiet residential street unadorned by sidewalks, pushing pedestrians, pets, and kids on bikes onto the street. Is there ever a good reason for such a typology?

January 22, 2015 - Greater Greater Washington

How Streets and Social Justice Intersect

A look at how streets affect health, social interaction, and economic development by Marissa Reilly, a Berkeley-based urban planner and Lillian Jacobson, a master’s candidate at MIT.

August 13, 2014 - UrbDeZine

Street Grid

What Street Grids Reveal About a City

Author and blogger David Prowler takes a lighthearted and pictorial look at what the layout of a town's streets unveils about a city's history and aspirations.

March 27, 2014 - Los Angeles UrbDeZine

Walkable Street

The Underlying Patterns of Urban Street Design

Based on empirical study, J. Alexander Maxwell and fellow University of Strathclyde researchers, in collaboration with Chuck Wolfe, argue for recalling historic patterns of pedestrian city settings in contemporary urban design and policies.

March 20, 2014 - London School of Economics and Political Science - American Politics and Policy Blog

Pedestrian Infrastructure in LA Neighborhood a Study in Contrasts

In Los Angeles’s Boyle Heights neighborhood, some locals are benefiting from public-space improvements as part of the Eastside Access project. But many nearby streets and sidewalks are sorely neglected.

January 22, 2014 - LA Streetsblog

New York's Streets Provide "Platform for Social Activism"

Justin Davidson ruminates on the great strides Janette Sadik-Khan and New York's Department of Transportation have made in reforming the city's streets. As much as they've accomplished, the transformation remains a work in progress.

December 18, 2013 - New York Magazine

Street With No Sidewalk

To Control Health Costs, Build Sidewalks

Each month new research emerges linking public health with the built environment. Yet just a small fraction of healthcare spending goes toward reducing our exposure to unhealthy environments. Under the Affordable Care Act, that could soon change.

August 13, 2013 - SvR Design Company Blog

Wood-framed Storefront

Picturing Ten Urban Qualities Important for Every City

Writing in The Atlantic Cities, Chuck Wolfe provides ten illustrated examples of enjoyable environments that reflect an evolving recognition for the qualitative aspects of the urban experience.

January 30, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Reviewing the History of New York's Grid

The New York Times' architecture critic, Michael Kimmelman, reviews a new exhibition exploring the history of the city's grid and streets.

January 4, 2012 - The New York Times

Fixing a "Psychological Moat" That Divides a City

South Carolina members of the Urban Land Institute met in Columbia, South Carolina to offer suggestions for overhauling Assembly Street, a major downtown thoroughfare that separates distinct areas of the urban core.

October 17, 2011 - The State

Cyclists, Pedestrians, and Drivers Clash

With over 8 million people sharing the streets and sidewalks of New York City, there is bound to be a clash between transportation modes. Who's to blame? Lyndsey Scofield says that there is bad behavior on all sides.

October 5, 2011 - This Big City

Streets of a multicultural city

This past weekend I attended a memorial service for a local activist. Eric Quezada was important in many planning-related issues here in San Francisco – how we create space that reflects the cultural traditions of our large immigrant communities, the importance of preventing displacement of low-income people, the development of affordable housing and institutions that meet the needs of all of our citizenry. I had known Eric for many years, but had the privilege of working most closely with him when I served on our city’s Planning Commission and he was a lead organizer in the Mission District, an historically Latino neighborhood threatened by dot-com fueled gentrification. In his short 45 years on earth, Eric touched the lives of thousands here and around the world.

September 28, 2011 - Lisa Feldstein

Is a Vibrant City Best Measured at Night?

Chuck Wolfe asks if a city's vitality is best indicated at night, and how it should be measured.

September 28, 2011 - myurbanist

A Dirty Reputation in 'Filthadelphia'

Philadelphia has long been derided for its dirty and filthy streets. This reputation has turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

August 18, 2011 - The Philadelphia Daily News

Reinterpreting the City Clutter of Utility Boxes

Utility boxes are cluttering city streets all over the world. But they're not going away, and cities should start to try to find new ways to blend them into the urban fabric, according to this article from the San Francisco Chronicle.

August 10, 2011 - San Francisco Chronicle

Rethinking the Streetspace: What's Next?

July 21, 2011 - Amber Hawkes

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.