Illinois

Chicago Tribune Finds Faults With City's Speed Camera Program

A special investigation by the Chicago Tribune finds inconsistencies and errors with the city's "'Children's Safety Zone" initiative, which places speed camera near schools and parks.

November 18, 2015 - Chicago Tribune

In Illinois: an Affordable Housing Board in Name Only

More evidence of the inability of the Illinois Housing Planning and Appeal Act to achieve its stated goals.

November 11, 2015 - WBEZ

Explained: Bus-On-Shoulder Service

Allowing buses to drive on the shoulder of highways when traffic slows has been shown to increase ridership, thus proving an important point: people will ride transit when it's a reasonable option.

November 5, 2015 - Metropolitan Planning Council - The Connector

Midwest Flags

12 Maps to Explain the Midwest

Aaron Renn scours the Internet to find 12 maps that attempt to do the impossible: define the geographic and cultural expanse known as the American Midwest.

October 30, 2015 - The Urbanophile

Editorial: Chicago's Lakefront Deserves Better than the Lucas Museum

To say that the Chicago Tribune editorial board is not a fan of George Lucas's proposal to build a museum along Lake Michigan would be putting it mildly.

October 28, 2015 - Chicago Tribune

Lake Michigan

The Death and Life of Evanston, Illinois

A comprehensive review of the inner-ring suburb of Evanston, Illinois, outside Chicago, and a transformation Jane Jacobs would surely love. The proof is in the pudding: Evanston car ownership are far below regional averages.

October 27, 2015 - Politico Magazine

Front Porch

New Urbanism Earning New Fans in One Chicago Neighborhood

With statistics showing that fewer than half of Americans know their neighbors, bringing neighborliness to neighborhoods remains a challenge for urban planners.

October 27, 2015 - The Chicago Tribune

Change Is Coming to Wrigleyville (Other Than Playoff Baseball)

The Wrigleyville neighborhood of Chicago will have a national audience this week for the first time since 2003. The neighborhood has changed, and is poised for even more change.

October 20, 2015 - Chicago Tribune

Chicago Apartments

Chicago Rule Change Encourages Affordable Housing

This month, changes to Chicago's Affordable Requirements Ordinance (ARO) will go into effect, raising the in-lieu fees developers must pay to opt out of building affordable units downtown.

October 2, 2015 - The Architect's Newspaper

Chicago Approves Big Expansion of TOD Ordinance

Ten times more land in Chicago is now designated for transit oriented development—affording new development reduced parking requirements, density bonuses for affordable housing, and new strength for the city's Pedestrian Street design regulations.

September 30, 2015 - Chi.Streetsblog

New York City Construction

Can Reduced Parking Requirements Generate Too Much Development Competition?

A new argument has appeared in the ongoing debate about parking requirements. A university in a college town objected to reduced parking requirements on the grounds that it would make the city too attractive to developers.

September 30, 2015 - CityLab

Chicago's Food Carts Now Street Legal

An estimated 1,500 food carts were operating in the city of Chicago—mostly outside the law. The Chicago City Council this week passed a law that allows legitimate operations.

September 25, 2015 - Crain's Chicago Business

The Outsized Benefits of Transforming Parking Lots to TOD

Chicago's sale of three city-owned parking lots demonstrates how selling underused land for the purposes of transit-oriented development can benefit people and government.

September 23, 2015 - Metropolitan Planning Council - The Connector

Illinois DOT Head: System Is Stuck in the Past

Strong words from the head of the Illinois Department of Transportation, who says the state is planning for "yesterday's transportation system." Are we witnessing a sea change in leadership of transportation at the state level?

September 6, 2015 - Chicago Tribune

Meet Chicago's New Northerly Island Open Space

Chicago gains a new open space today, located on an island on Lake Michigan just across from Soldier Field and Burnham Harbor.

September 4, 2015 - Chicago Tribune

Chicago Infill Rail Stations Showing Outsized Benefits in Ridership, TOD

An analysis of infill transit stations built since 2012 along "L" routes in Chicago shows clear increases in ridership and transit oriented development.

September 1, 2015 - Metropolitan Planning Council - The Connector

Access to Jobs

A Central Hub for Open Data

Designed by researchers at the University of Chicago, the Plenario platform gathers all available open data for a specific area. Then it presents the data in an easy-to-use format.

August 18, 2015 - Government Technology

The Case For and Against Red Light Cameras

Eric Jaffe of CityLab looks at what went wrong with what should have been a clear way to employ technology to reduce crashes and save lives, and what can be done to stem the tide of cities removing red light cameras.

August 18, 2015 - CityLab

Gentrification Concerns Raised Around 'The 606' Trail in Chicago

When an exciting and popular addition to the public realm becomes available, like it did in Chicago earlier this year with The 606 trail, concerns about gentrification and displacement are sure to follow.

August 13, 2015 - Chicago Tribune

Wealthy Suburbs Flout Illinois' Affordable Housing Mandate

The state of Illinois finds itself without a "stick" to enforce the mandates of its Affordable Housing Planning and Appeals Act. Towns have noticed and are flouting the law.

August 11, 2015 - Chicago Tribune

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.