Urban planning involves a lot of jargon that can be obscure or confusing. Here’s one term you might not have heard, but that can make a big difference in the design of your city.
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The best time to influence a development proposal so that it fits well into its urban context is early, not late, in the process.
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If your city, like so many others, needs more housing and fast, then here’s a way some places are streamlining the process.
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According to the United States Census, prior to the pandemic, half of all businesses in the U.S. were home based and nearly eight million people worked primarily from home…but according to urban planners, this is illegal!?
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Drivers tend to unconsciously regulate their speed based on visual cues. By taking some simple steps to narrow a street visually, we can make it less dangerous.
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Roundabouts are great, but completely replacing an intersection with a roundabout is an enormous project—and not the first one cities should jump to when taking the next smallest step to address traffic safety concerns.
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The police department in Oakboro, North Carolina, has been asked to address drivers misusing a left-turn lane—but this is not a policing issue, and no level of enforcement can correct it. Instead, let’s look at the street’s design.
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Google Maps: “Let me tell you where the next freeway will be without telling you where the next freeway will be.”
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Too often, people who offer seemingly simple solutions for problems in their community just get dismissed by municipal staff. Here’s how to persist.
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A university campus in Norman, OK, presents a good case study in why transportation engineers must take care when designing streets adjacent to important civic institutions.
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In Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, children are invited to share their input on how public spaces should be designed, using a popular video game.
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Conventional wisdom holds that the U.S. doesn’t know how to do rail—but Union Station shows that we do, in fact, have a history and the knowledge to build grand public transportation systems.
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This story about a revitalized church’s parking requirements might sound absurd, but it’s reflective of the very real and very absurd regulations most communities face when it comes to parking.
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When we started the Crash Analysis Studio this year, we asked our members to help us in funding and implementing this project to make our streets safer. You not only answered the call; you came out in force.
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The process of getting a new development approved often yields results that make no one happy. However, there is an opportunity here to be more assertive about your community’s vision.
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When someone loses their life on your community’s streets, everyone needs to be prepared to take immediate action to prevent future deaths.
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Richmond, VA, architect Erik Bootsma shows through some simple (but effective) illustrations how a dangerous intersection can be made safer.
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City hall is an institution with a diversity of responsibilities serving your community, and in it lies an opportunity to observe how your local city operates and is managed.
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What exactly is “by right” development, and how might it not match what’s actually built in your community?
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Too many neighborhoods have a demand and need for additional housing, but builders believe there's not enough existing lots to build on. Here's how to demonstrate otherwise.
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