Georgia

Friday Eye Candy: New Renderings for the Atlanta BeltLine's Westside Trail

Atlanta's BeltLine is one of the country's most exciting public space projects, and residents have even more reason for excitement after Beltline.org released a fresh batch of renderings for the forthcoming expansion of the Westside Trail.

July 18, 2014 - Curbed Atlanta

McMansions Spark Debate in Decatur, Georgia

Call them teardowns, infill, or McMansions, the affluent suburb of Decatur, Georgia is dealing with growing concern about neighborhood character and tree canopy as property owners adopt the trend toward new, large houses in existing neighborhoods.

July 1, 2014 - Atlanta Creative Loafing

How to Build Cargo Capacity at an Airport: Attract Industries to Nearby Locations

Atlanta's efforts to attract new cargo traffic to its airport will require new facilities on site as well as new facilities for industries nearby.

June 26, 2014 - Marketplace

Old Man Cyclist

Our Elders are Leading the Bike Boom

While biking might be seen as a young person's cause, new data from the National Household Travel Survey show that American's aged 60-79 are responsible for a huge chunk of new riders.

June 23, 2014 - Streetsblog USA

Work Begins on Atlanta's Liberty Plaza

Liberty Plaza will replace a parking structure across from the George State Capitol. The plaza could also one day become home to a monument to Martin Luther King, Jr.

June 14, 2014 - Curbed Atlanta

States Address Impending Cut-off of Federal Transportation Funds

With federal highway funds likely to be cut off in August unless Congress can reach an agreement on a stopgap solution, some states, e.g., MO, VT, GA, AR have taken matters into their own hands to ensure that vital construction projects continue.

June 13, 2014 - The Wall Street Journal

For Sale: Air Rights at MARTA's Urban Train Stations

MARTA is exploring the desire of developers to build mixed-use buildings over its urban train stations. Any such deal would be the first of its kind in MARTA's 40-plus-year history.

June 12, 2014 - SaportaReport

Tracking the Rate of Sprawl for U.S. Cities between 2000 and 2010

Many studies have measured and compared the sprawl of U.S. metropolitan areas. A recent study tracks the rate at which the same cities grew either less compact or more compact for the decade between 2000 and 2010.

June 7, 2014 - CityLab

MARTA's 2015 Budget Expands Rail Service

While many transit agencies around the country have increased fares in recent months to deal with budget deficits, Atlanta's MARTA has reported good financial news and has even proposed a 2015 budget that expands rail service.

June 6, 2014 - Atlanta Business Chronicle

Bike Lane Backlash in Atlanta

A recent local news report from Atlanta shows that a lot of citizens just aren't buying what planners and advocates are selling when it comes to complete streets.

June 4, 2014 - 11Alive

Defending Atlanta from Anti-Sprawl Malcontents

Robert Bruegmann, professor emeritus of art history, architecture, and urban planning at the University of Illinois at Chicago, defends the recent attacks against Atlanta, especially regarding its sprawling footprint.

May 17, 2014 - Politico

Suburban Poverty Case Study: Cobb County, Georgia

"We can’t understand what’s working in America’s cities unless we also look at what’s not working in the vast suburbs that surround them," writes Rebecca Burns.

May 12, 2014 - Politico Magazine

Empty Swings

How Planners Can Improve Public Health

Public health was one of the many topics to merge from the American Planning Association's recent national gathering. Here's a look at the proceedings from the conference's Planning Healthy Communities Symposium.

May 10, 2014 - APA Conference Blog

Can Atlanta's BeltLine Achieve its Potential?

The Eastside Trail of the Atlanta BeltLine is immensely popular. With funding still in question and construction behind schedule on some of the transit that would integrate with the BeltLine, one writer re-examines the trail's vast potential.

May 8, 2014 - Atlantic Cities

New Seattle Bus Funding Initiative Addresses City-Suburb Split

It's a pattern seen as recently as two years ago in metro Atlanta: a crucial transit measure wins in the central city but dies in the more populous suburbs. The fix is to craft a city-only transit initiative—just what advocates in Seattle will do.

April 28, 2014 - KUOW

Atlanta Streets Alive Hopes to Shift City’s Perceptions

Maria Saporta reviews the latest Atlanta Streets Alive event, which shuts down streets to vehicle traffic and turns them over to people, held over the past weekend in the historic neighborhood of West End.

April 21, 2014 - SaportaReport

Making the Case for the Downtown Athens Master Plan

University of Georgia College of Environment and Design Professor Jack Crowley has taken to the pages of a local publication to explain some of the thinking behind the proposed Downtown Athens Master Plan.

April 12, 2014 - Flagpole

State Gas Taxes and P3s Fill Federal Transportation Revenue Void

Beginning last year, states increased gas taxes and entered public-private partnerships, as are some cities. But it's not an easy haul for cities nor states, and Congress has yet to agree how to furnish sufficient revenue to match current spending.

April 7, 2014 - The Wall Street Journal - U.S.

Streetcar Expansion Plans on Hold; Atlanta BeltLine vs. Peachtree Streetcar

Atlanta has placed the Atlanta BeltLine Streetcar System Plan on hold, but the fate of one component of the plan—now occupying low-priority position among the plan’s four phases—reveals a lot about Atlanta’s proposed streetcar network.

March 19, 2014 - SaportaReport

States Troubled by Federal Transportation Funding Uncertainty

Georgia Department of Transportation Commissioner Keith Golden recently told a gathering about the state’s reliance on federal money for transportation, saying, “We’ve got to find a way to break away from our dependence on federal dollars.”

March 18, 2014 - Marietta Daily Journal

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.