Climate Change

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Marquam Bridge

The Biggest Highway Boondoggles in the United States

Frontier Group and U.S. PIRG have released the fifth edition of its Highway Boondoggles report.

June 18, 2019 - U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Amazon HQ2

Report Details the Many Risks of Climate Change Facing Queens

The Regional Plan Association recently released a report targeting the climate risks associated with the older housing stock in Central Queens, New York City.

June 16, 2019 - QNS

Staten Island

Watch: Sea Walls and the Future of Resilience

Vox and Curbed provide multi-media coverage of a Staten Island sea wall project as an example of the necessity of resilient infrastructure, and the shortcomings of our ability to predict the needs of the built environments in changed climates.

June 14, 2019 - Curbed New York

Atlanta Park

A Sustainability Plan for Georgia's Most Populous County

Fulton County, Georgia, home to Atlanta, adopted the "2019 Sustainability Plan + Resilience" earlier this month, focused on addressing the effects of climate change.

June 12, 2019 - SaportaReport

Adams Morgan District

The Case for Upzoning

The parallel crises of pollution and housing affordability require denser zoning of land uses, otherwise known as upzoning, according to this article.

June 12, 2019 - Greater Greater Washington

Urban Solar Power

Expanded Solar Capacity Means Supply Exceeds Demand for Solar in California

California is setting records for the amount of solar energy it can’t use, but this cushion might be a good thing: it means the state won’t need to depend as heavily on fossil fuels as a stopgap.

June 10, 2019 - Los Angeles Times

Golden Gate

The Generational Warfare of Our Times

If action isn’t taken to address the major issues the nation faces today, younger people will be contending with a lifetime of hardship. But older generations seem mostly to be looking the other way.

June 10, 2019 - Slate

Gulf Coast

Visualizing Worst-Case Scenario Sea Level Rise on the Texas Coast

Much of the state political leadership in Texas has been slow to accept the existence of climate change, much less the role of the state's economy, land use, and infrastructure planning in exacerbating the crisis. Maybe this will help wake them up?

June 7, 2019 - My San Antonio

Toronto

A New Resilience Strategy for Toronto

Toronto is preparing for the worst of climate change, but also the stresses of affordability, congestion, and aging infrastructure.

June 7, 2019 - CBC News

North Carolina Outer Banks Cape Hatteras National Seashore

Living Shorelines for Storm and Flood Protection

More coastal cities and communities are turning to the "soft" solutions of living shorelines—relying on "a combination of oyster reefs, oyster shells, rocks, marsh plants, and other natural materials can be an effective alternative to seawalls."

June 4, 2019 - Vox

Trans Alaska Oil Pipeline

The Federal Agency With Surprising Power to Impact Climate Change Policy

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) flies under the radar, but it makes some of the most consequential decisions about the federal government's approach to climate change.

May 25, 2019 - Vox

Texas Flood

The Uncertain Flood Zone

Communities need accurate maps and more access to data to increase flood resilience—but right now FEMA's not providing that.

May 22, 2019 - Shelterforce Magazine

Washington State

Friday Funny: The Onion Gets Weird With Climate Politics

We really didn't see this one coming.

May 17, 2019 - The Onion

Flooding

Flooding Less of a Concern as Hurricane Memories Fade

Residents of Houston are less likely to think of flooding as a concern, or to think development should be prohibited in flood-prone areas, as in the years immediately following Hurricane Harvey.

May 15, 2019 - Houston Chronicle

Washington State

A Surprising Place for Climate Relocation: Washington State

The city of Hamilton in Skagit County, Washington showcases another kind of community at risk from the effects of climate change and considering relocation to higher ground.

May 14, 2019 - The Seattle Times

Mexico City, Florida

Op-Ed: FEMA Failing to Respond to Housing Displacement After Disasters

With President Trump in Florida, Diane Yentel writes about the many people there still living without shelter after Hurricane Michael last year.

May 9, 2019 - Orlando Sentinel

The Rockaway Beach Boardwalk

Zoning Reform for Coastal Resilience in New York City

The New York City Department of City Planning has released a large set of recommendations for zoning changes designed to help the city's many coastal areas weather the inevitable extreme weather events of climate change and sea level rise.

May 7, 2019 - NYC Planning

Bay Area Wetlands

A New Plan for Sea Level Rise in the San Francisco Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay has 400 miles of shoreline, and a dire need for a new approach to dealing with the effects of rising water levels. An estimated $100 billion in potential property damage is at risk.

May 5, 2019 - San Francisco Chronicle

Los Angeles

Unequal Distribution of Shade Is Environmental Injustice

A longread, written by Sam Boch and published by Places Journal, has been creating a stir online and is highly recommended for those with an interest in intersections between social justice and urban design.

May 3, 2019 - Places Journal

Suburban Office Building

Watch: What it Takes to Retrofit Suburbia

June Williamson explains the necessary components of the next generation of the suburban retrofitting project, and why these actions are so necessary.

April 27, 2019 - Redesigning Cities via YouTube

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.