Land Use
Retaining Affordable Housing Near Transit Just Got Easier
Changes to the criteria for evaluating applications for the federal New Starts program could have a significant impact on efforts to preserve and expand affordable housing in close proximity to transit.
Friday Funny: America the Beautiful...Parking Lot
Satirical newspaper The Onion has released the results of a nationwide poll to determine what the country's residents associate with the word "America". Rather than apple pie, the flag, or baseball, the resounding choice was a strip mall parking lot.
Can Transit Oriented Development be Effective in India?
TOD as a planning tool is new to Indian cities, where the idea is being championed as a solution to congestion, environment quality and housing equity. Can this concept, developed for the North American city, be successful in Indian cities?
Driving Home: How Highways Destroyed Cincinnati
In a collection of aerial photos comparing Cincinnati in the 1950s and today, one can see the disastrous effect that the nation's highway building frenzy had on the city's urban fabric.
Los Angeles Lifts Ban On Public Murals
By a 13-2 vote, the Los Angeles City Council lifted an unevenly applied decade-long ban on public murals on Wednesday, ending a dark period for a city that had long celebrated its social and cultural identity on public walls.
Lessons from West: Do Texas Land Use Laws Put Residents at Risk?
After a fertilizer plant explosion killed 15 people in West, observers blamed Texas's lax zoning regulations. Analysis of the locations of such plants across the Western U.S. seeks to determine whether Texas land use law is uniquely unregulated.
Attractive New Park Makes Angelenos Realize How Ugly Downtown Buildings Are
Since it opened last year, throngs of Angelenos have flocked to downtown's Grand Park. With those crowds now paying attention to the massive public buildings that form the park's boundaries, some are wondering if they need to be replaced.
Urban Revival Increases Need for Places for Mental Renewal
Kaid Benfield argues that amid our focus on placemaking, density, transit, and walkability we need to find room to talk about how to create sanctuaries, or peaceful places, 'where one can get away and be quiet and still'.
Why Did a 'Mysterious' Company Buy Hundreds of Properties in St. Louis?
Over the course of a year beginning in June 2008, a 'mysterious holding company' named Urban Assets bought 240 parcels across a five-mile swath of the north side of St. Louis. Since then, it's just let them decay.
What Happens to Planning in San Diego Now that Filner is Gone?
Reconstituting San Diego's Planning Department was one of Bob Filner's signature initiatives during his short time in office, and a centerpiece of his promise to 'put the city’s neighborhoods first'. Will his vision outlast his scandalous exit?
Should Cities Mandate Yards?
In communities across the U.S., setback requirements and lot coverage maximums mandate acres of private open spaces. Eliminating such requirements could produce more affordable and more eco-friendly places, argues Matthew Yglesias.
Why Millennials Might Save the Suburbs
Observers have anxiously wondered what will happen to America's urban revival as Millennials start families and seek the types of amenities more readily found in the suburbs. Relax, says Shane Phillips, cities will be fine and suburbs will be better.
A Battle to Protect England's Countryside as Greenfield Developments Double
Far from applying the government's policy of brownfield first, the number of new houses planned for greenfield sites has doubled since reform of the planning system in England reduced protection for greenbelt land.
Cincinnati Revival Gets Boost With Parking Requirement Reform
Recognizing the obstacle to redevelopment and livability presented by its outdated parking requirements, Cincinnati leaders have reduced parking minimums in the central business district and historic Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, reports Randy Simes.
Can Architecture Play a Role in Creating Middle East Peace?
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is bound up in intersecting issues of place, history and geography, among other things. Two Israeli architects believe architecture and urban design can help lead to an agreeable solution.
Is New Urbanism Best Suited to the Suburbs?
25 years after development started on Gaithersburg's model New Urbanist community Kentlands, Dan Malouff surveys the movement's impact on America's development patterns. He argues its products are more necessary in less-urban environments.
Janette Sadik-Khan Previews NACTO's Street Design Guide
Janette Sadik-Khan, NYC DOT Commissioner and president of the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), discusses NACTO's mission and forthcoming Street Design Guide: a "permission slip" for cities to change their streets.
Community Benefits Agreement in Brooklyn Draws Criticism from Local Organizations
An agreement between Related Developers and a community organization that has gotten substantial support from an area councilman to support a job training and referral program draws criticism from some groups who feel left out.
Containerizing the Opera
From student dorms to pop-up shops, the potential uses for the world's ubiquitous shipping containers seemingly has few bounds. A New Jersey parking lot and 1,300 containers play the part of the New York Metropolitan Opera's warehouse.
New Report Aims to Help L.A.'s Urban Gardens Grow
A group of graduate planning student at UCLA have compiled the first comprehensive survey of urban agriculture in Los Angeles County, providing tools for planners and policy-makers to boost the area's agricultural fecundity.
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
