San Diego

Regional Planners Sued for Promoting Sprawl

The Cleveland National Forest Foundation is suing SANDAG over a $200 billion transportation plan that purportedly only promotes sprawl through freeway extensions.

December 4, 2011 - KPBS

Controversial 13,000 Sq. Ft. Home Gets Approved

The San Diego Planning Commission has rubber stamped a massive Zaha Hadid-designed private home. The dramatic architecture has had locals forming "anti-Zaha coalitions."

November 8, 2011 - The Architect's Newspaper

New Plan For CA HSR Misses Second And Sixth Largest Cities

The new $98 billion price tag and 2033 completion date in the revised HSR Authority's business plan applies to the first phase, meaning that the extensions to San Diego and Sacramento will take even longer, leaving some San Diegan leaders seething.

November 7, 2011 - AP via The Sacramento Bee

As San Diego Water Pact Falls Through, Options are Scarce

Created in 2003, a pact between rural Imperial Valley to provide water to San Diego has become mired in litigation due to its potential effects on the Salton Sea. But just nixing the deal isn't so easy, as Tony Perry reports.

October 30, 2011 - Los Angeles Times

California Cities Hoping Projects Lure Teams and Development

Cities across California are proposing new stadium projects in hopes of luring football teams and economic growth as a result of their new megadevelopments.

August 30, 2011 - The Architect's Newspaper

Mixed Feelings As San Diego Dissolves Planning Department

As the San Diego Planning Department folds into another department to save city money, locals and former officials grapple with whether it was the right move and how the city could change as a result.

July 13, 2011 - The Architect's Newspaper

Planning Slips From San Diego's Org Chart

Last month, the planning department of the City of San Diego was folded into the Development Services Department. Locals worry the shift in perspective will endanger plans being developed in a dozen different neighborhoods.

May 13, 2011 - OB Rag

Transit Use Up Again, Thanks to Expensive Gas

As reporter Robert J. Hawkins notes, "It's like 2008 all over again." Back then, skyrocketing gas prices sent people fleeing to use public transit. Today, the pattern remains the same, at least in San Diego.

April 11, 2011 - San Diego Union-Tribune

San Diego Looks to Cram 50 Years of Work into 10

While transportation activists in Los Angeles are getting behind a plan to cram 30 years of transportation projects into a decade, environmentalists in nearby San Diego want to do 50 years worth in the same amount of time.

January 26, 2011 - Streetsblog LA

Pedestrian-Only Zone Proposed for San Diego

With the centennial of the Panama-California Exposition that created San Diego's Balboa Square approaching, the city is considering turning back the neighborhood to its former car-free glory.

September 8, 2010 - The Architect's Newspaper

California Should Alter Its HSR Plans to Save Money

Thomas Elias argues that California's HSR plans should be altered to reduce costs and avoid some urban municipalities against the plans. This would reduce the $25 billion funding gap and allow construction to move ahead.

July 2, 2010 - San Jose Mercury News

San Diego Looks At Density to Meet Projected Housing Demand

With population estimates adding an additional 1.2 million people to the San Diego region in the next 40 years, planners say the region will need nearly 400,000 additional housing units to meet the demand.

March 2, 2010 - San Diego Union-Tribune

San Diego Dirtier than China

In a new working paper called “The Greenness of China: Household Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Urban Development,” Siqi Zheng, Rui Wang, Edward L. Glaeser, and Matthew E. Kahn rank 74 Chinese cities in terms of their household carbon footprints.

January 11, 2010 - NYTimes

Land Use and Medical Marijuana

Like many cities in California, San Diego is struggling to form a policy around the booming medical marijuana dispensaries that have popped up around the city. The first place they're starting is with land use restrictions.

December 14, 2009 - KPBS

Denser Neighborhoods Could Save Bay Area $31 Billion

Walkable, transit-accessible neighborhoods do more than just lower greenhouse gas emissions of their residents - they save them money too, states a new report, "Windfall for All", from the Bay Area's TransForm, a coalition of over 100 non-profits.

November 23, 2009 - Sacramento Business Journal

Ocean International Airport

With one of the smallest and busiest airports in the country, San Diego is thinking about upgrading its facilities. One idea is to build a new airport on the ocean.

October 23, 2009 - The Infrastructurist

Developers Eye High-Density Opportunities in California's High Speed Rail Hubs

Southern California developers are gearing up to pounce on the areas surrounding proposed high speed rail hubs that will make up California's statewide high speed rail line.

August 12, 2009 - San Diego Business Journal

Building the Smart Grid Smartly

In the sixth of a ten-part series, National Public Radio investigates the sustainability of smart grid technology in the places where its likely to be applied.

May 1, 2009 - National Public Radio

A Quarry Converting to Mixed Use

A quarry in San Diego is on a path towards conversion into a $1.5 billion mixed-use housing and retail project, one many thought unlikely in today's tight market.

March 6, 2009 - The New York Times

'Nonconforming Urbanism' the New Face of Density

Architect Teddy Cruz examines the south-north flow of "nonconforming urbanism" in the Tijuana-San Diego region, and how changing communities in this dynamic area could shape the way we think about increasing density.

February 4, 2009 - The Nation

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.