While cities may be shut down, city planners have not turned off the lights. Planning departments around California, which is mostly on lockdown, have resorted to working from home. Long-range planning could even benefit.
"With the governor’s orders, planning 'counters,' where minor and small-scale applications are processed, have physically closed. Most departments are not holding any in-person meetings with customers. But the relatively recent advent of electronic processing may mean that some customers will not even notice the shutdown. They just have to upload the proper documents on departments’ web-based portals—no human contact needed."
"While applications are sure to fall, at least in the short term, while applications for everything from high rises to accessory dwelling units are slowed by the shutdown, department officials say that many planners have at least a few weeks' worth to keep them busy in the near term. If applications do not pick up, departments may shift their attention to the long-term — and to projects that have been lingering but not getting the attention they may have deserved."
FULL STORY: Virus Crisis Forces Planning to Go Virtual
D.C., San Francisco Lead Pandemic Work From Home Trend
Remote work increased threefold during the pandemic, but the numbers vary significantly from city to city and region to region. Almost half of D.C.-area employees, for example, worked from home in 2021, according to American Community Survey data.
The Future of Downtowns Still Hangs in the Balance
Center City in Philadelphia offers a case study for one of the largest and potentially most consequential contingencies of the pandemic: What happens to downtowns is most workers never come back to the office?
Two Stories From 2020: Which Is True?
Have all cities lost people due to COVID-19, or just a few high-cost ones?
‘Forward Together’ Bus System Redesign Rolling Out in Portland
Portland is redesigning its bus system to respond to the changing patterns of the post-pandemic world—with twin goals of increasing ridership and improving equity.
Plan to Potentially Remove Downtown Milwaukee’s Interstate Faces Public Scrutiny
The public is weighing in on a suite of options for repairing, replacing, or removing Interstate 794 in downtown Milwaukee.
Can New York City Go Green Without Renewable Rikers?
New York City’s bold proposal to close the jail on Rikers Island and replace it with green infrastructure is in jeopardy. Will this compromise the city’s ambitious climate goals?
700-Acre Master-Planned Community Planned in Utah
A massive development plan is taking shape for lakefront property in Vineyard, Utah—on the site of a former U.S. Steel Geneva Works facility.
More Cities Ponder the End of Drive-Thrus
Drive-thru fast food restaurants might be a staple of American life, but several U.S. cities are actively considering prohibiting the development of new drive-thrus for the benefit of traffic safety, air quality, and congestion.
Air Pollution World’s Worst Public Health Threat, Report Says
Air pollution is more likely to take years life off the lifespan of the average human than any other external factor, according to a recent report out of the University of Chicago.
Placer County
City of Morganton
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Dongguan Binhaiwan Bay Area Management Committee
City of Waukesha, WI
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Indiana Borough
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