New York

Southampton Street

Lessons in Planning from the Future Long Island

Andy Freleng recently answered a series of questions about life on Long Island, and its future, from his perspective as chief planner of Suffolk County.

May 1, 2014 - The Foggiest Idea

Older Residents Left Out of NYC's Housing Mix

New York City's population of older adults is growing quickly—by 2030, 300,000 more residents over the age of 65 will live in NYC than its current population of one million. But providing adequate housing for older residents is not yet a priority.

April 30, 2014 - New York Times

The Hudson Yards 'Quantified Community' Experiment

Undergirding the massive mix of uses and investments called Hudson Yards is an ambitious plan to gather and analyze data provided by the 65,000 people a day who make use of the facility.

April 28, 2014 - FastCompany Exist

The Shard London

How Tall is Too Tall?

What is the best height to promote good urban living? It needs to be high to attain necessary density but not so high that it detracts from the quality of life, particularly for existing residents. In short, what is the Goldilocks height level?

April 26, 2014 - The Guardian

Friday Funny: The Subway Oyster Shucker

To some people (or maybe just this one person), the N Train in the New York City subway system in a perfectly acceptable place to shuck some oysters.

April 25, 2014 - The Awl

Renewables Account for 92 Percent of New Power in the United States

Although the United States built less new energy capacity than in the same time period last year, renewable energy dominated the capacity to come online so far in 2014.

April 24, 2014 - Next City

A Shot Across the Bow of the Shared Economy

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman penned an op-ed for the New York Times that specifically calls out Airbnb and Uber—two companies at the forefront of calls to regulate the emerging sharing economy.

April 24, 2014 - New York Times

New York City's Most Serious Pollution Continues to Plague its Residents

Imagine living high above Manhattan but unable to open your windows because of soot-laden smoke from surrounding buildings. Toxic emissions from burning dirty heating oil continues despite a 2011 law requiring conversion to a cleaner fuel.

April 23, 2014 - The New York Times - N.Y. / Region

Pitching a Queens-Brooklyn Streetcar

Michael Kimmelman resurrects an old plan by Alex Garvin to build a light rail connection between the waterfront neighborhoods of Queens and Brooklyn, except Kimmelman would build a streetcar line.

April 22, 2014 - New York Times

Leaving California

Two Kinds of Migration Drive Urban Growth

A new post by Richard Florida distinguished between the two different types of migration—domestic and international—driving the influx of residents in urban centers around the country.

April 22, 2014 - Atlantic Cities

Study Maps the Spatial Patterns of U.S. Environmental Injustice

A new study by researchers from the University of Minnesota presents a sweeping portrait of trends in exposure to nitrogen dioxide across the United States.

April 18, 2014 - The Washington Post - Wonkblog

Strip Mall

Is it a Suburban Exodus Yet?

A new report finds that suburban areas are losing residents to urban areas like New York City and Washington D.C., even well past the point when people would have traditionally made the choice to return to the suburbs.

April 18, 2014 - New York Times

Coming this Summer: Airbnb Will Collect Taxes in San Francisco, New York State

The ongoing saga of the tax and regulatory standing of Airbnb, the popular room rental app and poster child for the sharing economy, is evolving in San Francisco, Portland and the state of New York.

April 15, 2014 - SFGate

Examining the Surprising Segregation of New York City

The common perception of New York City is as of a well-integrated city, full of multi-ethnic neighborhoods. But a recent article peeks behind the curtain of the city’s surprising boundaries of racial segregation.

April 15, 2014 - City Notes

High Line park NYC - Manhattan - New York City

The High Line as Symbol of 'Severe Economic Inequality'

A recent article in Salon cites the High Line as perhaps the most conspicuous example of how municipal governments are subsidizing wealthy corporate or private interests while many citizens continue to suffer low wages and benefits.

April 14, 2014 - Salon

My First Ride

How Well Does Light Rail Attract New Transit Riders?

The answer to the question in the headline is “not very.” Thirty years into the initial experiment, however, light rail has not been the game changer it was hoped to be.

April 13, 2014 - Atlantic Cities

Vision Zero Hits the Streets with First 'Arterial Slow Zone'

Delivering the first example of a critical component of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s “Vision Zero” program, New York will lower the speed limit from 30 to 25 along Atlantic Blvd, which cuts through Brooklyn and Queens.

April 10, 2014 - WNYC: Transportation Nation

Will ‘Worst Parking Crater’ Award Produce Policy Change?

Streetsblog doesn’t pull any punches with its “Golden Crater” award—an award for the worst parking crater in the country, selected by a March Madness style tournament. This year's winner/loser: Rochester, New York.

April 10, 2014 - Streetsblog USA

Boston Subway Tremont Construction

The Original Big Digs

The gridlock in American cities today doesn't compare to the crush on streets in Boston and New York City in the mid- to late-1800s. In The Race Underground, Doug Most chronicles the occasionally synchronous development of the nation’s first subways.

April 10, 2014 - Josh Stephens

What Does Citi Bike Data Reveal About New York City?

A website called I Quant NY has produced a string of posts examining recent ridership data released by Citi Bike. The visualizations and maps produced by the site make a good case for the value of open data.

April 9, 2014 - I Quant NY

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.