Social / Demographics

San Francisco

Amid Opposition, S.F. Homeless Navigation Center Completed

A new facility providing shelter and services to San Francisco’s homeless will open this month, even after a year of community pushback.

December 27, 2019 - Curbed San Francisco

Homelessness

HUD's Latest Homeless Report Counts Increasing Homelessness

The federal government blamed California for the increasing number of people living in homelessness in the United States.

December 24, 2019 - Associated Press via The New York Times

Silver Lake Dog Park

Are Cities Really Losing Millennials?

Despite headlines to the contrary, the nation's most urbanized places appear to have gained thirtysomethings in recent years.

December 23, 2019 - Michael Lewyn

West Philly

Investment Without Displacement the Goal in West Philly

As the 52nd Street corridor in West Philly attracts new development interest, community leaders are working to ensure that current residents won't get swept away with the new investment.

December 21, 2019 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Underpass Camp

Seattle Regional Homelessness Authority Plan Moves Forward, but Faces Controversy

A proposal for a regional entity to oversee homeless services in King County is running into jurisdictional conflicts.

December 20, 2019 - The Urbanist

Cruise Ship

California Proposal to Shelter Homeless on Cruise Ship

Oakland is looking at the possibility of housing homeless people in unconventional quarters.

December 19, 2019 - East Bay Times

Thailand

Is the End of Bangkok Street Food Vending Near?

Street food vendors are an integral part of the Bangkok urban landscape, but city planners want to see them gone.

December 19, 2019 - The New York Times

Bay Area Planner Accosted by Building Security

An extremely problematic encounter occurred last week when a black planner was accosted by security while taking photos of bike racks on the street outside of a luxury building.

December 18, 2019 - Curbed San Francisco

Ontario, Canada

Toronto's Biggest Story of 2019: Mississauga

The city of Mississauga is undergoing a transformation so complete that one Toronto-based write said the suburb is the city's issue of the year.

December 18, 2019 - Toronto Storeys

Homeless Cars

The Homeless Working Poor

The Salinas Valley in California is an agricultural powerhouse, but homelessness and hunger abound. Finding affordable housing is becoming increasingly difficult, even for people with jobs.

December 16, 2019 - The California Sunday Magazine

Berkeley Hills Bay Area

Navigating California's Housing Insanity

One person’s return to the San Francisco Bay Area meant facing the dystopian realities of the rental market.

December 16, 2019 - Harper's Magazine

Ben Carson

The Decade in Urban Planning

A look back at the biggest stories and themes from the world of urban planning in the decade that was the 2010s.

December 16, 2019 - James Brasuell

Detroit Vacant Properties

A Better Way to Tackle Social and Economic Inequality

Building community wealth from the bottom up is a more effective way to turn struggling communities around.

December 16, 2019 - CityLab

Lisbon, Portugal

What Can Brain Science Tell Us About Cities?

Cities are not unlike brains in their capacity to evolve along complex, self-organizing patterns. Studying what some researchers call the "urban connectome" may give us insight into how best to organize the places where we live.

December 15, 2019 - CNU Public Square

Electric Car Charging Stencil

California Climate Program Offers Up to $9,500 Toward Purchase of Used EVs

Lawmakers want to ensure that electric vehicles are accessible to all Californians, particularly lower-income motorists in disadvantaged communities. Unlike other incentive programs, participants must also scrap an older, polluting vehicle.

December 14, 2019 - San Francisco Chronicle

Young Planners

Attracting Youth of Color to the Field of Planning

A leading youth engagement in planning program, explained.

December 12, 2019 - Planning Magazine

Hartford, Connecticut

Low-Income Housing Tax Credits: 'Erecting Pockets of Poverty'

The state of Connecticut deploys almost all of its federal housing funding in impoverished communities, according to this bombshell investigatory report.

December 11, 2019 - ProPublica

Boise Idaho

Development Backlash Follows Population and Job Growth in Western States

As housing prices rise all over the country, quickly growing states like Colorado, Idaho, and Utah are transforming in ways some residents didn't anticipate or desire. Such circumstances are a breeding ground for anti-development politics.

December 11, 2019 - Pew Stateline

Brooklyn

Report: 'Racialized Displacement' Followed Rezonings in New York City

The rezonings in question occurred during the Bloomberg administration, but advocates are seizing on the relevance of that experience to the rezonings of the de Blasio administration.

December 8, 2019 - Curbed New York

Car-centric Planning

Transit-Oriented Development Central to D.C. Region's Growth Plan

Transit-oriented development will play a key role in mitigating the congestion effects of growing population in the region around the nation's capital, and regional planners say the region is already achieving its goals.

December 2, 2019 - WTOP

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.