Urban Development

$323 Million Waterfront Project Cruising Along in St. Louis
Lighthouse Point, a $323 million marina and waterfront development proposed for the banks of the Mississippi River, has already been granted a special district, tax abatements, and sales tax exemptions.

Developers Rebrand Baltimore’s Port Covington Megaproject
The megaproject formerly known as Port Covington is now known as Baltimore Peninsula.

Seattle Considering Expedited Design Review for Affordable Housing
An emergency order in April 2020 exempted affordable housing projects from the city of Seattle’s design review process. A new ordinance would allow affordable housing proposals there own path to approval for another two-year test period.

Houston Development Aims to Create Hyper-Walkable, Micro-Living Neighborhood
The 17-acre Second Ward project has spurred both optimism for a more walkable city and concerns about displacement and gentrification.

Nashville Sets Downtown Parking Maximums
Nashville is the latest city to enact a substantive change to the parking requirements set by the city’s zoning code—doing away with parking minimums and setting parking maximums in the city’s Urban Zoning Overlay.

European Cities Act on Density
The sprawling mass of suburbia has been a disaster for the environment. But now smaller, denser cities herald a renaissance in city living.

Report: Sustainability Goals Go Unmet in Many Global Cities
Cities around the world are failing to achieve progress toward their sustainability and public health goals, new research finds.

Arizona’s Growth Threatens Water Supplies
New communities are popping up across Arizona’s desert, evading water consumption restrictions and straining the state’s groundwater supplies.

San Francisco Could Strike Deal on New Tower
The city is leveraging height increases and density bonuses to acquire more properties for affordable housing.

Palo Alto Includes Industrial Rezonings in its State-Mandated Housing Element
Palo Alto, a Silicon Valley city with a history of exclusionary zoning tactics, has produced a new Housing Element that calls for more than 6,000 housing units to be built in the city by 2031.

Where and Why Rezonings Are More Likely to Succeed
A new analysis of developer-initiated rezonings in Louisville, Kentucky sheds light on how the land use regulation system works.

Voters Reject Miami Beach High-Rises
Developers planning to build above the city’s current height limit will have to go back to the drawing board.

Skyscraper Proposed for Austin Would Be Tallest in Texas
The skylines are starting to catch up to the hype about everything being bigger in Texas.

Elizabeth Warren Points to Development as a Path for Electoral Success
An op-ed written by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) details Democrats’ recent track record of large-scale capital investments and calls for more.

Seeking a Post-Pandemic Comeback, WeWork to Close More Offices
WeWork isn’t dead yet, hoping to ride post-pandemic interest in flexible workspace to a comeback story for the ages. There are still cuts to be made, however.

‘Skyscraper Race’ Underway in Toronto
No skyline in North America has changed as drastically as Toronto’s in recent decades. A slate of new skyscraper proposals, called a “skyscraper race” by observers, could continue the trend.

Business Group Fights Apartments in Fort Worth Stockyards
The city’s zoning commission voted to require city council approval for new apartments east of Packers Street and Niles City Boulevard after a local business group coplained about added traffic.

New Green Development Rules Take Effect in Austin
The city updated its development code to include more robust protection for local wetlands and stricter sustainable stormwater infrastructure requirements.

Tracking Boston’s Emissions Reduction Progress
The Boston Foundation published the “Inaugural Boston Climate Progress Report” earlier this month. Other U.S. cities should follow their lead.

2022 Midterm Election Results for Land Use, Transportation, and the Climate
The most closely watched midterm election since the last midterm election offered voters an opportunity to decide on matters of consequence related to land use, housing, transportation, and the environment.
Pagination
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