Land Use
The Worst Urbanist
We've gotten a lot of responses on our Top 100 Urban Thinkers list, particularly those wanting to separate out the 'bad' from the 'good'. Mary Newsom was inspired by the list to ponder, who was the worst?
Andrés Duany Calls For Revamping Public Process
Among other issues tackled by the noted New Urbanist during a recent speech, Duany said that the current form of public engagement is broken because it engages only the immediate neighbors.
Judge Rules Against Efforts to Stall California's High Speed Rail
A judge has overruled challenges from two northern California cities over the siting of the state's proposed high speed rail line. Environmental studies can now move forward.
Manhattan is the Greenest City
A review of GREEN METROPOLIS: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less Are the Keys to Sustainability by David Owen, expanding on his groundbreaking essay in the New Yorker in 2004 on why New York is the greenest city around.
Don't Forget Roads, Says Kotkin
Joel Kotkin explains why the Obama Administration's focus on transit is wrong-headed and doesn't do anything for the majority of Americans.
Inside David Byrne's Livable City
Using a mishmash of highlights from cities around the world, musician and artist David Byrne talks about his personal vision of a perfect, livable city.
Texas Officials Call For End to Border Fence
Texas officials are calling on the federal government to ditch plans to build a pedestrian fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, arguing the fence will not stop illegal crossing.
"Polluted and Dangerous" Abandoned Properties
Tufts urban planning professor Justin Hollander appeared on C-SPAN's Washington Journal to answer questions about his new book, Polluted & Dangerous: America's Worst Abandoned Properties and What Can Be Done About Them.
Jacksonville Baptists Denied Their Church, Sue City
The First Baptist Church of Mandarin applied to build a 249,000 sq. ft. complex in a rural area. They're suing the city in federal court, on the grounds that they're getting "unequal and discriminatory treatment."
New Light Rail Line Ushers Age of Rail Growth in Portland
A new line of Portland's MAX light rail system has opened, prefacing the coming decades of rail growth in the region.
The Role of Artists in the Creation of Public Space
Public space plays an important role in cities. Essential to creating good public spaces, according to this commentary from The Nation, is the art community.
Remaking Market St.
San Francisco's Market St. is the main street in town, but has had mixed success as a public space and a history of accidents involving pedestrians and bikes. Mayor Newsom has announced a new effort to improve safety and the public realm.
The Geography of Pot in Los Angeles
The Los Angeles Times has mapped the city's medical marijuana dispensaries, and found many that fall within a proposed buffer that would keep the outlets away from schools, parks and libraries.
Friday Funny: Suburban Fantasies
With names like Aspen Grove and Sunrise Park, you might mistake these suburb designs for the real thing. But something's not quite right in artist Ross Racine's birds-eye views of imaginary suburbs.
Injecting Planning Issues into Seattle's Mayoral Race
Seattle is in the midst of a mayoral election, and while typical election issues are getting their own share of lip service from the candidates, land use is being overlooked.
Cities in the Sand: U.S. Military Bases in Iraq
U.S. Military bases in Iraq are being consolidated, but their footprint is hard to ignore. Many operate much like small cities, housing as many as 20,000 people and all the services and infrastructure they require.
Could Old Bay Bridge Span Become a Park?
Architect Ronald Rael proposes preserving the discarded span of the San Francisco Bay Bridge and turning it into a park and mixed-use development, in the spirit of NY's High Line.
Practical Lessons From Portland
Bill Fulton visits Portland, and comes back with six practical lessons that other cities can take from the 'planner's nirvana.'
Dubai's Metro Rail Starts Rolling
Citywide metro rail service is set to begin operations today in Dubai. The system will start out with ten operational stations, but eventually include 47 stops along 70 kilometers of track.
Pavement to Parks Sees Progress in San Francisco
The city of San Francisco has barricaded two new large swatches of land to be used as part of its Pavement to Parks projects, and is enjoying a flood of support from residents, businesses, politicians, and local educational institutions.
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
