Missouri
Kansas City Bike Share Program Crowdfunds to Expand (Updated)
The B-Cycle bike share program in Kansas City is using a crowdfunding platform to generate funds for capital investments after an underwhelming attempt to generate funds for operations.
Revitalizing MLK Streets to Better Honor Their Namesake
Across the U.S., hundreds of streets are named in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Unfortunately, many reflect the poverty and segregation that King fought to reverse. A non-profit is trying to transform them into sources of pride and inspiration.
St. Louis Puts Complete Streets Program on Hold
A complete streets program once thought to be on the fast track to approval has provoked strong opposition and is likely headed back to the drawing board in the Gateway City.
Missourians May Vote to Increase Sales Tax for Transportation After All
Citizens will attempt to do what the Missouri General Assembly narrowly rejected: raise the sales tax by one percent to fund state, county and city roads as well as public transit. If enough signatures are gathered, it will be on the ballot next year
St. Louis Takes a Farsighted Approach to Preserving Its Past
Recognizing the potential value of its historic homes and industrial buildings, but with few plans for reuse in the immediate future, the City of St. Louis is proposing to establish a preservation fund to mothball some of its 6,000 vacant buildings.
Two Years Before Opening, New Streetcar Already Driving Kansas City Development
Building on a decade of phenomenal growth, downtown Kansas City is poised to add 1,500 new and renovated apartment units in time for a new streetcar to begin operating in 2015.
Midwestern Cities Using Transit as Economic Development Tool
Chicago's Fulton Market's new transit stop is attracting attention and investment in the neighborhood. Increasingly, more cities in the Midwest are embracing transportation projects as a means to revitalize downtowns and historic districts.

Why Did a 'Mysterious' Company Buy Hundreds of Properties in St. Louis?
Over the course of a year beginning in June 2008, a 'mysterious holding company' named Urban Assets bought 240 parcels across a five-mile swath of the north side of St. Louis. Since then, it's just let them decay.
Will Short-Term 'Failure' Lead to Long-Term Success of St. Louis Ballpark Village?
Last week the St. Louis Cardinals heralded the opening of a surface parking lot as a 'milestone' in the $650 million mixed-use development known as Ballpark Village. For Alderman Scott Ogilvie the lot represents the 'total failure' of the project.
NIMBY Epidemic Infects St. Louis
Senior citizen apartment complexes, a gas station, and 17 emergency communication towers are among the latest targets of staunch neighborhood opposition in the St. Louis area. What is the line between reasonable objections and "BANANAS" opposition?
Interstate Tolling, the Third Rail of Transportation User Fees, Finds Fans
Discussion on increasing user fee revenue has centered on increasing and/or indexing the gas tax and applying VMT fees. Now some are pushing a return of the original user fee - road tolls applied by states or regions on interstate highways.
Can St. Louis Keep Its Unique Heritage from Crumbling?
As the back-to-the-city movement takes hold, cities are turning old industrial buildings into distinctive spaces prized as offices and lofts. St. Louis is trying to figure out how to preserve their legacy assets from crumbling as they await new life.
In Historic Missouri City, Visionary Entrepreneurs Follow in the Path of Preservation Pioneers
Echoing the pioneering preservationists that saved and restored historic neighborhoods "left behind by suburban development" in the 1960s, a group of visionary entrepreneurs is battling to defend the historic soul of St. Joseph, Mo.
Midwestern DOTs Struggle to Keep Up With Forward-Thinking Residents
Across America's Midwest, resident revolts have challenged the traditional DOT orthodoxy of continuous highway construction. The most recent battleground is St. Louis, where a growing movement is protesting a highway project first conceived in 1957.
St. Louis Reneges on Plan to Study Highway Teardown
With great fanfare, St. Louis put out an RFP last year to study the conversion of a portion of the elevated I-70 highway separating downtown St. Louis from its historic riverfront into a boulevard. That study has been scrapped for vague reasons.
University Housing: Bastion of Communal Learning or Luxury Resort?
John Eligon examines the private student housing building boom, and asks whether we are spoiling college students with luxurious off-campus amenities to the detriment of academic and social environments.
Is CA High-Speed Rail Stalling the Federal Rail Program?
House Republicans object to further funding of the High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail program - largely due to California's expectation to receive $42 billion in federal funding - yet less ambitious projects have shown much promise.
Reducing Historic Tax Credit Could Curb Development in St. Louis
A successful tax credit that boosts development and preservation in St. Louis's historic urban core is under legislative attack in Missouri.

The Prevalence of Play Deserts
A new study analyzing the amenities in 165 parks in the four-county Kansas City metro region found that low-income neighborhoods suffer from a lack of play spaces, despite having more parks per capita, reports Emily Badger.
Sports-Oriented Development Starts (Slowly) in St. Louis
It's not the grand slam that the Cardinals and their developer partner were hoping for, but news that the first piece of the $650 million Ballpark Village development project has started construction was welcomed in St. Louis.
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