Government / Politics

Decades of Failure in the Sea of Dust

When Los Angeles drained Owens Lake to bring water into its quickly growing urban basin, it simultaneously created a dry lakebed and one of the worst dust pollution problems in America. Various efforts to fight the problem have only failed.

January 27, 2011 - Places

Calling for Consolidation of Hundreds of Tiny Townships

Hundreds of townships in Indiana serve fewer than 1,000 people each, prompting some government officials to call for consolidation to reduce wasted resources.

January 26, 2011 - The Indianapolis Star

Undoing a Sprawl-Inducing Rule in Florida

Planners in Jacksonville are getting behind plans to encourage more infill development by getting rid of an older rule that was seen to contribute to sprawl.

January 26, 2011 - The Florida Times-Union

San Diego Looks to Cram 50 Years of Work into 10

While transportation activists in Los Angeles are getting behind a plan to cram 30 years of transportation projects into a decade, environmentalists in nearby San Diego want to do 50 years worth in the same amount of time.

January 26, 2011 - Streetsblog LA

Seeking a Greener Future for Downtown Minneapolis

With a downtown largely devoid of trees, Minneapolis is considering a new plan that would add more green life and greenspace to the city's center.

January 26, 2011 - MinnPost

Debating Subways in Chinese Cities

This debate from China Daily offers a point-counterpoint over whether Chinese cities should be embarking on major subway building projects.

January 26, 2011 - China Daily

Not So Fast on Infrastructure Binge

The U.S. spends far less on its infrastructure than many other countries, which some say will hurt the nation's competitiveness. The U.S. needs to build infrastructure, but as Neal Peirce argues, with a few caveats.

January 25, 2011 - Citiwire

Military's Rail Mission in Afghanistan

The U.S. war in Afghanistan is also a broad infrastructure building effort, according to military officials who talk about a rail building effort known as the Silk Road Initiative

January 25, 2011 - Transportation Nation

In Defense Of CA's Redevelopment Agencies

Redevelopment agencies are vital to job creation and necessary for central cities to stem suburban job sprawl, claims Gerald Metcalf, executive director of a SF urban think tank (SPUR), countering CA Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed elimination of them.

January 24, 2011 - San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday Insight

Debating San Francisco's Community Benefit Districts

There are 12 community benefit districts in San Francisco, which raise their own taxes to create funds for various local projects. But some argue they favor big businesses.

January 24, 2011 - San Francisco Chronicle

A Comprehensive Urban Agriculture Plan

A new project is seeking to create the first citywide, comprehensive urban agriculture plan for New York City.

January 24, 2011 - Urban Omnibus

City Leaders Push Back on Redevelopment Axing in California

A group of city leaders and activists gathered in Sacramento to protest Governor Jerry Brown's plan to close the state's redevelopment agencies.

January 24, 2011 - San Francisco Chronicle

Mayors on the Infrastructure Needs of the U.S.

This TIME video is titled, "What Makes Cities Smart?" But the mayors interviewed - Villariagosa, Daley, Nutter - are mostly obsessed with building public transit and high-speed rail.

January 24, 2011 - Time

Amid New Leadership, Villaraigosa's Transit Plans See Less Support

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa recently visited Washington D.C. to discuss his plans for expedited transit projects in L.A., but the new congressional leadership is not as supportive as the old.

January 22, 2011 - Los Angeles Times

Cities No Longer Need Help

Joel Kotkin argues that most U.S. cities that were struggling in the '60s and '70s have forged a comeback and should no longer need the sort of redevelopment and federal attention they've been given.

January 21, 2011 - New Geography

California Redevelopment Rush In Full Throttle

Redevelopment agency officials throughout California are moving rapidly to prevent a threatened takeover by the state (to reduce deficit) by signing deals on projects potentially prematurely. LA just turned $1 billion in 275 projects to the city.

January 20, 2011 - Los Angeles Times

Wisconsin Rail Upgrade Still Possible

While Gov. Walker's rejection of $810 million of federal stimulus funds for the Milwaukee-Madison rail upgrade has received much publicity, he has not ruled out using funds to upgrade the existing Milwaukee-Chicago Hiawatha Line pushed by businesses.

January 19, 2011 - Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Crime-Monitoring Blimp Could Hover Over Utah City

Officials in Ogden, Utah are considering a plan to launch an unmanned blimp to monitor the city from crime at night.

January 19, 2011 - Reuters

North Carolina Hopes to Lure Extra Rail Money

As states return money aimed at high speed rail projects, officials from North Carolina are hoping to scramble up some of this newly available funding to augment existing projects.

January 19, 2011 - News and Observer

The Other Reasons He Cancelled the Tunnel

With political pressure from both sides of the aisle palpable, Gov. Christie discusses how he analyzed and justified the ARC tunnel's cancellation.

January 18, 2011 - The Wall Street 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.