History / Preservation
Anchorage Updates Land Use Plan Map
After 34 years the Municipality of Anchorage is updating its land use plan map, a companion piece to its comprehensive plan adopted in 2001. The land use plan map sets the stage for future growth and development in this Northern City of 301,000.

Berlin's Underground Techno Scene Is Being Gentrified Out
As Berlin's neighborhoods continue to gentrify, the buildings that once housed the city's bustling underground club culture are being redeveloped.

Op-Ed: Save Boston's Mattapan Trolley
The MBTA is considering the future of a unique service: the Mattapan high-speed trolley line. Upkeep costs are high, but replacing the track with buses might be a shortsighted move.

It's Time to Stop Blaming Historic Preservation For Affordable Housing Woes
In a rebuttal to criticisms leveled at historic preservation districts, Stephanie Meeks of the National Trust for Historic Preservation argues that historic preservation has value and can aid in creating affordable housing.

The Colliding Legacies of Olmsted and Obama
Architects will soon be hired to design Obama's presidential library in Chicago. It may turn out to be a beautiful building, but will it be worth all that is lost in the process?
Brooklyn's Tallest Proposed Building Has Date With Landmarks Preservation Commission
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the 1,066-foot building is what distinguishes it from other high rises of its size across the East River—it will be residential.

The Portrayal of Detroit Through 'Ruin Porn' Fails To Tell The Full Story
Do the stylized pictures of crumbling edifices and the recent incorporation of a vacant home in an art show do a disservice to the residents—mostly poor and black—who still call Detroit home?
Parking Minimums Could Torpedo an Adaptive Reuse Project in Cincinnati
A vote by the city of Cincinnati's Historic Conservation Board, of all things, would prioritize parking over historic integrity.
Fortunately, Unfortunately: A Children's Primer on Urban Evolution
Scott Doyon rewrote a classic children's book as a history of US cities since World War II. Fortunately, it's a quick read. Unfortunately, it's up to all of us how it ends.
Take a Tour of Super Bowl City (San Francisco) Then and Now
So the Super Bowl is actually being hosted down the road in Santa Clara, but San Francisco has been Super Bowl City all week. Luckily a feature by The Guardian offers a chance to compare The City's history with its present.
Friday Eye Candy: The Nuclear Missile Sites of Los Angeles
The former locations of nuclear missile sites are more mundane than you probably realize. Geoff Manaugh explores satellite images of Los Angeles, and other cities, for examples.
On the 50-Year Legacy of the New York City Landmarks Law
This past April, the Landmarks Law turned 50. Its legacy and impact has been inconsequential for shaping the urban environment.

Let's Talk Water
Water has been an integral part of the designed landscape for centuries, but is it time to reevaluate its relevance?
Gentrification and 'The Slums of Beverly Hills'
There is hidden economic diversity even in one of the most famous (and toniest) of zip codes.

Clash Over Garden City Apartments in Los Angeles
The Wyvernwood Garden Apartments, a large-scale low-rise development opened in 1939, are at the center of a preservation debate. Lauren Walser gives us the case for keeping them.
Rowhouses Have an Ally in Philadelphia
An important source of housing affordable to wide ranges of incomes has a new, well-funded ally in Philadelphia—the Healthy Rowhouse Project is hoping to make a big impact in 2016.
Friday Eye Candy: Explore a Changing New York From Above
A little Christmas Day diversion for those who never stop thinking about cities.
Endangered Places in 2015: Texas Dancehalls
Dancehalls—places for small-town Texans to gather for community—are struggling to survive in a changing Texas.
A Conservationist Turns to the City
Journalist Alex Ulam speaks with Sarene Marshall, director of the Urban Land Institute's Center for Sustainability, about the role conservation is playing in fighting climate change and her role at the agency.

The Most Popular Planetizen Posts of 2015
The results of a year's worth of writing, reading, sharing, and commenting are in. These are the most popular Planetizen posts from the year 2015.
Pagination
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.
EMC Planning Group, Inc.
Planetizen
Planetizen
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service