New York

Bloomberg Credits High Line with $2b in Development

New York's High Line park isn't just a nice place for a stroll. Mayor Bloomberg credits the line with creating over 12,000 new jobs and $2 billion in private development.

June 6, 2011 - The New York Times

Luring Luxury and Expelling the Lower Class

New York City's policy that incentivizes luxury development has had deleterious impacts on the city's lower and middle classes, according to the new documentary "The Vanishing City".

June 4, 2011 - The Architect's Newspaper

New Jersey Gov. Scraps Rail, Invests in Mega-Mall Instead

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie defunded the construction of the ARC Tunnel (connecting NJ to NY via increased rail service), claiming that it was fiscally irresponsible. Now, Christie is using state funds to finance the construction of a mega-mall.

June 1, 2011 - Sustainable Cities Collective

New York City Brownfields Program Clean But Flawed

A citywide brownfields recovery program in New York City has been cleaning up polluted sites, allowing new developments to move in on formerly vacant areas. But some worry the program is fueling gentrification.

June 1, 2011 - Gotham Gazette

Smell Flowers, Not Smoke in New York Public Parks

The NY Times sent an investigative reporter to Bryant Park to test the new city regulation banning smoking in parks and finds non-smoking park-goers incredibly tolerant toward smoking violations while smokers appear compliant with the regulation.

May 30, 2011 - The New York Times - N.Y. / Region

Digital Democracy in the Big Apple

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and NY's "Chief Digital Officer" Rachel Sterne presented plans to use enhance technology that connects citizens with their government.

May 24, 2011 - SeeClickFix Blog

The Walking Dead

Can drivers be scared into being more careful around pedestrians? A new scare tactic is in the works for the common WALK/DON'T WALK traffic light.

May 23, 2011 - Fast Company

Prospect Park West Bike Lane On NPR

NPR's Joel Rose interviews Streetsblog founder and Brooklyn Prospect Park West bike lane advocate Aaron Naparstek, and bike lane opponents for this 3-minute, "All Things Considered" radio story on New York's most controversial bike lane.

May 22, 2011 - NPR:All Things Considered

New Yorkers Get Daily Exercise Just By Getting Around

New Yorkers get most of their physical activity from walking to the subway or running errands, not jogging or going to the gym, says a new report from the New York Dept. of Health.

May 21, 2011 - Streetsblog

James Howard Kunstler vs. McDonald's

Kunstler and Duncan Crary debate the merits and drawbacks (mostly drawbacks) of two McDonald's restaurants being proposed for Saratoga Springs and Troy, New York (their respective hometowns).

May 20, 2011 - KunstlerCast

Is the High Line's Success Replicable?

Witold Rybczynski thinks not, saying that the success of the project's "landscape urbanism" is its remarkably dense and urban setting, not the hip design and landscaping.

May 17, 2011 - The New York Times

Street Artist JR Turns Stoops Into Portraits

Faces are appearing in Brooklyn, plastered along the slats of front stoops as part of a participatory public art project by famous French street artist JR.

May 17, 2011 - The Street Spot

To Beat The Backlash, Expand The Bike Network, Say Planners

Bike lanes have become one of the most controversial topics in all of New York City. For cycling to take hold, the city needs to make sure all groups have equal access to cycling, say a team of Hunter College grad students.

May 17, 2011 - Streetsblog

New York's Unique Storefronts

How to Be A Retronaut features a smattering of photos of New York's unique storefronts, taken by photographers James and Karla Murray. Since the book's release, about a third of the stores have faded from existence.

May 16, 2011 - How to Be a Retronaut

The Spectre of Death and Speeding

New speed limit signs will alert drivers that they are going to fast by showing them an image of a skeleton -- an image intended to warn drivers that their speeding could kill.

May 16, 2011 - Transportation Nation

Translating New York City to 1920s Small Town America

In the 1920s, when the concept of a big city like New York was still new to many Americans, one newspaper columnist brought the city to small town America.

May 15, 2011 - Smithsonian

Family Structure Shifts in New York City

Family makeup is changing in New York City, where unmarried partners are on the rise and households with children are on the decline.

May 15, 2011 - The New York Times

Overflow Plant Aims to Reduce Sewage Contamination

A new sewage plant has opened in New York that hopes to reduce the amount of sewage overflow when storms overwhelm the city's combined sewage and stormwater system.

May 14, 2011 - The New York Times

NYC Streets Transformation a Cause for Celebration

A number of articles have recently been written criticizing New York City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan for dramatically changing the city's mobility. This column from Metropolis says that criticism is misdirected.

May 14, 2011 - Metropolis

Revitalizing Buffalo's Waterfront

Buffalo, New York is restoring portions of its historic waterfront into a 2-acre, walkable, mixed-use neighborhood.

May 12, 2011 - The Architect's Newspaper

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.