District of Columbia

D.C. Streetcar

A Sneak Peak at D.C.'s Streetcar Extension Plans

With the controversy about the value of its newly opened streetcar ongoing, Washington, D.C. has commenced with a planning process for extending the line to Georgetown.

May 18, 2016 - Greater Greater Washington

Driving

Sunday Satire: What if We Shut Down Roads Like We Shut Down Transit?

Imagine if the federal government treated road safety as seriously as it does transit safety.

May 15, 2016 - City Observatory

Accessory Dwelling Unit

Digging Into D.C.'s Zoning Code Changes for Accessory Dwelling Units

Washington, D.C. approved a long-awaited new zoning code in January. Greater Greater Washington digs into one of the new code's more substantive changes: more permissive regulations for accessory dwelling units.

May 11, 2016 - Greater Greater Washington

Washington D.C. Metro

Federal Transit Administration Threatens Metro Shutdown after Thursday's Fire

Unless D.C. Metro abides by the Federal Transit Administration safety directives issued Saturday and takes "urgent action," they threatened to shut down all or parts of the system, the nation's second busiest subway after New York's.

May 9, 2016 - The Washington Post

Washington D.C. - The White House

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors: White House Edition

The security cordon around the country's most famous residence is growing taller and stronger, again.

May 3, 2016 - The Washington Post

D.C. Metro

The Root Causes of the D.C. Metro Crisis

The 40-year-old system, second busiest in the nation after New York's, has seen ridership decline since 2010 as the region grows. A major cause is "frequency delays." The Washington Post reporters state that the subway has entered a death spiral.

April 28, 2016 - The Washington Post

Portland Pearl District Streetcar

PBS Takes on Urban Planning, Good and Bad, with '10 Towns' Special

Beginning with the first U.S. planned urban development, St. Augustine, Fla., and ending with one of Portland's newest neighborhoods, the Pearl District, host Geoffrey Baer takes us through ten developments that left their mark, for better or worse.

April 27, 2016 - PBS

D.C. Streetcar

D.C.'s New Streetcar Not As Slow As Rumored

Washington D.C.'s new streetcar line opened to a chorus of media naysayers who mocked the slow moving transit, but reality shows it's not quite as slow as some would have you believe.

April 27, 2016 - Greater Greater Washington

D.C. Metro Bus

Auditing D.C. Metro's New Bus Prediction Technology

Regular bus riders know how integral an accurate real-time bus arrival system can be to the experience of bus transit. D.C. Metro just made a switch in technology, and Greater Greater Washington evaluated the results (so far).

April 26, 2016 - Greater Greater Washington

Coffee Shop with Books

Where Have All the Writers Gone?

Aaron Renn identifies the negative effects of ongoing concentration of media professionals of the "writer" variety in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles.

April 24, 2016 - The Urbanophile

Washington D.C. Row Houses

What the Growth of D.C. Looked Like From Space

A history of growth and expansion is visible to the naked eye with photos covering a wide breadth of the planet and just a few short years.

April 24, 2016 - The Washington Post

'Community Partners Program' Offers $5 Memberships for Capital Bikeshare

The new Community Partners Program will help Capital Bikeshare respond to concerns about the system's lack of access for low-income and minority residents.

April 15, 2016 - DCist

How Bikeshare Replaced Trains on the Day Metrorail Shut Down

Mobility Lab has created a collection of animations and maps that show how Capital Bikesahre filled in some of the gaps for commuters when Metrorail shut down in March.

April 12, 2016 - Mobility Lab

Dedicated Bus Lanes Open on Crowded D.C. Corridor

A speedy approval process will have popular buses moving at a speedy pace down Georgia Avenue in Washington, D.C.

April 12, 2016 - The Washington Post

Road Through D.C.'s Rock Creek Park Closing to Cars

A long-discussed, and perpetually controversial, proposal to close Rock Creek Park to automobile traffic is headed toward construction. Questions about the impact of the project remain.

April 9, 2016 - Greater Greater Washington

The Historical Foundation of America's Transit Disinvestment

The other day, a new Shinkansen bullet line was added in Japan, the first to operate high-speed rail in 1964. The U.S. has yet to build is first line. More troubling is the decay we've seen in the relatively new metro lines, like D.C. Metro and BART.

April 7, 2016 - The Conversation

Poking Holes in D.C. Mayor's $660 Million Homeless Shelter Plan

An ambitious proposal to build seven new homeless shelters around the District of Columbia, with a price tag of $660 million, has been attacked on several fronts.

April 7, 2016 - The Washington Post

Welcome to Brooklyn

Urban Demographics: The New Elite

Economist Jed Kolko's recent study on how the lack in affordability of cities determines who's moving there, whose moving out, and how these changes are shaping cities and suburbs. His paper is the basis for several articles by leading urban writers.

April 6, 2016 - The Atlantic

D.C. Metro Changes Arrival Estimation Technology

It's the details of transit apps that matter to users, so the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) just made a change of technology provider that will help make it easier to accurately predict bus arrival times.

April 6, 2016 - DCist

Trump Sign

Trump Would Move Infamous Sign From Chicago to the White House If Elected

Republican frontrunner Donald Trump has announced his plan to expand his branding if elected President of the United States in November.

April 1, 2016 - Planetizen April 1st Edition

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.