Status Quo

Zoning Code Rendering

Minneapolis 2040 Implementation Allowed to Proceed … For Now

The same judge that blocked implementation of the landmark Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan in June 2022 has allowed a temporary reprieve for planning work in the city to proceed.

July 28, 2022 - Star Tribune

Treasure Valley

Boise Backing Off Proposed Citywide Zoning Changes

Boise was considering allowing up to four units by-right on any residential parcel in the city, but has since rolled back the scale of the proposed zoning changes.

July 14, 2022 - Boise Dev

A map showing the city of mesquite with surrounding freeways, roads, and cities.

Dallas-Area City Wants to Increase Minimum Home Size to 2,000 Square Feet

While some cities are finding ways to add density and use zoning as a tool for affordability, Mesquite, Texas is headed the other direction.

June 29, 2022 - The Dallas Morning News

Minneapolis

Judge Blocks Minneapolis 2040 Implementation, Citing Lack of Environmental Review

Environmentalists have used the power of the legal system to protect the car-centric status quo of single-family zoning once again, overturning a landmark planning innovation in Minneapolis.

June 21, 2022 - MPR News

YIMBY

Where Pro-Development Groups Are Gaining Traction

The YIMBY movement seems to be gaining steam as more the country deals with growing housing prices and increasing numbers of people experiencing homelessness. Recent research reveals where pro-development forces are most likely to call home.

April 18, 2022 - Brookings

Tidal flooding at Brickell Bay Drive and 12 Street, Downtown Miami

Miami City Commissioners Vote to Reinstate Downtown Parking Minimums

It's unclear when the law will take effect, but the Miami City Commission has approved that an ordinance that heads in the opposite direction of current planning trends and even the city's own groundbreaking zoning code.

March 31, 2022 - The Next Miami

Large numbers of young people, some wearing and masks and others note, walk around an outdoor shopping mall in Southern California.

Despite Covid, Planners Expect Return to 'Old Normal,' Survey Says

Although the survey collects data from a small sample, it looks like North American planners don't expect the pandemic to change much about the way cities are planned.

February 22, 2022 - Planning Practice and Research

A map showing the city of Hammond and surrounding cities in Louisiana and Florida.

Louisiana City Halts Multi-Family Housing Construction Due to Infrastructure Concerns

The Hammond City Council has paused multi-family development approvals while it studies ways to improve the city's infrastructure.

February 10, 2022 - The Daily Star

Parking Sign

The Pretext Problem: The Pitfalls of Planning While Bargaining

Lots of planning is discretionary. Cities and developers negotiate what builders will do for cities in exchange for the right to build, creating an incentive for bad rules, eroding the public's faith in zoning, and enabling political corruption.

June 9, 2021 - Michael Manville

Suburban Home

What is Single-Family Zoning?

Single-family zoning is by far the most common form of zoning in the United States, but it's facing increasing criticisms both for its discriminatory origins and its sprawling effects.

February 23, 2021 - James Brasuell

Seattle Neighborhood

The Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda Era Concludes in Seattle

Before YIMBY was a household word and before Minneapolis ended single-family zoning, Seattle's Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA) broke the planning status quo.

February 26, 2020 - Sightline Institute

Houston Freeway

A Houston Columnist Celebrates Japan's Transit Infrastructure

The paper of record in a Texas oil town is a surprising place to find an article singing the praises of a society built on public transit instead of the automobile.

September 6, 2019 - Houston Chronicle

Protesting racism

Planning and the 'Real Estate State'

A new book by Samuel Stein links planning to the causes of a global finance industry that values worldwide real estate at $217 trillion, or 60 percent of the world's assets.

March 7, 2019 - Next City

Traffic and Speed

End These 5 Transportation Planning 'Rule of Thumbs'

An op-ed calls for an end to five examples of them planning status quo, and recommends four new "rule of thumbs" that can provide a better model for the transportation planning of the future.

August 4, 2015 - City Observatory City Commentary

Are You Getting the Change You Want from the Status Quo?

That question may seem like a contradiction, but it couldn't be more pertinent to communities and land use—existing codes and policies generate change by shaping investment.

March 6, 2015 - Better Cities & Towns

Can Miami Change, or is Car Culture in its DNA?

Esteban Bovo, chair of the Miami-Dade County Finance Committee, recently provoked the ire of transit advocates when he said that car culture is in the DNA of Miami.

June 3, 2014 - Transit Miami

Top Books

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Planning apps for a brave new world.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

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.