Brent Toderian in Planetizen — 10 Keys to Making A Great City Plan

One of the most interesting and complex challenges a city planner can be a part of, is the creation of a new city-wide plan—particularly one for an ambitious municipality that truly wants to change business-as-usual. Over my career I've worked on many city plans, both here in Canada and outside of North America. Read more: 10 Keys to Making A Great City Plan | Planetizen: The Urban Planning, Design, and Development Network

10 Keys to Making A Great City Plan! My top @planetizen article this year. #BrentsTop10 #3 https://t.co/bzWSWloien pic.twitter.com/jaMl51upea

— Brent Toderian (@BrentToderian) January 3, 2016

From Planetizen — Economic Thinking for Planners

This course shows how "Economic Thinking" can inform our thinking on big questions like why some countries are rich while some are poor and how so many us have become so much better off than our ancestors. Peter Gordon introduces the "Economic Thinking for Planners" series. Peter Gordon is Professor Emeritus at the University of Southern California Price School of Public Policy. His research interests are in applied urban economics. 
More at: Planetizen Courses

From @planetizen — Does your city need a 12-step program to kick its parking addiction?

Post by The Sidewalk Ballet.

From Planetizen — Todd Litman: Time Traffic Engineers moved beyond Roadway Level of Service (LOS) rating system

Evaluating transportation system performance based only on roadway LOS biases planning to favor automobile-oriented improvements, such as wider roads with higher design speeds, to the detriment of other modes, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy of increased automobile dependency and reduced travel options. There is good evidence that communities which improve walking, cycling and public transit experience shifts to those modes, indicating latent demand. Read more: Reform Transport Engineering: Expand Beyond Just Roadway Level of Service (LOS) Ratings | Planetizen: The Urban Planning, Design, and Development Network

From Planetizen — Mid-Rise: Density at a Human Scale

All growing cities must find ways to develop at appropriate, transit-supporting densities without overwhelming the surrounding context. The human-scaled, mid-rise building can be a solution—but achieving a good neighbourhood “fit” is not easy. Read more: Mid-Rise: Density at a Human Scale | Planetizen: The Urban Planning, Design, and Development Network

From Planetizen — #Sneckdowns: Nature's Street Safety Pilot Project

It's hard to imagine how the wintry mess blanketing cities across midwest and northeast could improve street safety. But recent snows provide one benefit being touted by safety advocates: temporary curb extensions or "neckdowns" caused by snow banks. Having trouble convincing local officials or neighbors that curb extensions or "neckdowns" can improve pedestrian safety without taking necessary space away from vehicles? Maybe all you need is a good snowstorm, so that "nature's tracing paper" can create a temporary, but educational, snowy neckdown–or "sneckdown". Read more: Sneckdowns: Nature's Street Safety Pilot Project | Planetizen: The Urban Planning, Design, and Development Network

Tactical Urbanism

Post by Happy City.

Tactical Urbanism: An Introduction —Planetizen Courses

From Planetizen — Mythbusting: Exposing Half-Truths That Support Automobile Dependency

TODD LITMAN Some commentators recently expressed outraged that governments spend money on cycling improvements. You could call them cycling critics, because they assume that bicyclists have inferior rights to use public roads and that cycling facility investments are wasteful and unfair, or call them automobile dependency advocates because their general message is that transportation planning should focus on facilitating automobile travel with little consideration for other modes. Read more: Mythbusting: Exposing Half-Truths That Support Automobile Dependency | Planetizen: The Urban Planning, Design, and Development Network

From Planetizen Courses — Bicycle-Friendly Streets: Design Standards

Bike Friendly Streets: Design Standards present examples of how cities are redesigning their streets to not only accommodate but encourage bicycling. From Road Diets that make room for bike lanes to total street redesigns, cities are stepping up to the challenge of providing a variety of options for the bicyclists in their communities. More at: Bicycle-Friendly Streets: Design Standards | Planetizen Courses

From Planetizen — An Argument for Eliminating Traffic Lights

"Stop-and-go turns out to be less a way of increasing safety than a way of maximizing the value of vehicles with high top speeds (i.e., automobiles) rather than slower vehicles (bicycles, scooters, motorcycles). So filling your city with signalized intersections turns out to be a kind of backdoor subsidy to automobile ownership."Read more: An Argument for Eliminating Traffic Lights | Planetizen: The Urban Planning, Design, and Development Network

HT Planetizen, From thegridto.com — Itemizing the Cost of a Great Street

The intersection of St. Clair Avenue West and Vaughan Road, which is among the messiest: St. Clair is wide, long, cut in two by a streetcar right-of-way, and follows a straightforward grid, while Vaughan is narrow, short, and hits on the diagonal as it chases a slithering ravine. In a city where there’s no such thing as a typical intersection, though, this one might just count as normal. Read more at: The Grid: How much does a street cost? And: Itemizing the Cost of a Great Street | Planetizen: The Urban Planning, Design, and Development Network

From Planetizen Courses — Tactical Urbanism: An Introduction

Designer and doer Mike Lydon, CNU-A, has one mission: Improving the livability of our towns and cities starting at the street, block, or building scale. In this first course of a two course series, Lydon introduces Tactical Urbanism. More at: Tactical Urbanism: An Introduction | Planetizen Courses

Enough with Bikes vs Cars – It’s about Better Cities! @BrentToderian @planetizen http://t.co/lHgMa5ochZ
— TheSidewalkBallet (@1sidewalkballet) August 17, 2013

From Planetizen — Fearing the Wrong Risks

TODD LITMAN Some risks are tangible – we can perceive them directly. For example, your heart rate probably increases when you stand near a high ledge or face an angry wild animal. A few years ago I took a fall while cycling around a tight corner and ended up with nasty road-rash; ever since I feel a healthy apprehension when approaching similar corners – my body remembers the pain – which has fortunately prevented subsequent falls. Such fear is rational and useful.

But many modern risks are intangible; they are measured statistically by experts and communicated through popular media. Not surprisingly, people often fear the wrong risks. This can have important implications for planning. Read more: Rational Fear | Planetizen: The Urban Planning, Design, and Development Network

From Planetizen — The Relationship Between Parking, Perception & Local Businesses

You ever hear the one about the Main Street merchant who went out of business because he lost all his parking? No? Are you sure? But, it's common knowledge that business goes bust as soon as parking is removed. I mean, I don't know about you, but I've even heard irate shop owners claim that just talking about reduced parking, or – dare I even say it out loud – increased parking rates (cue: gasps, guffaws) , can devastate a business district, and surely sink one that is struggling in these "difficult economic times." We've all heard it time and again; and therefore, everybody knows that the key to good small business downtown is gargantuan gobs of (preferably free) parking. But, some of us still get a kick out of questioning authority; so I'll ask you, is it true? Read more: The One About the Parking-Pinched Merchant… | Planetizen

From Planetizen Courses — Google Earth for Planners

These videos introduce you to Google Earth. The session will explore basic tasks for using Google Earth in planning. Topics will include finding places, moving around them, saving a location, viewing a site photo and capturing images for presentation. The subject matter is a compelling exploration of Washington DC with a discussion of the tool's applicability to planning. More at:  Google Earth for Planners - Introduction | Planetizen Courses

From Planetizen Courses — Twitter for Planning

Explore how to use Twitter to engage with the public in planning processes. Learn how to take those 140 character messages and turn them into meaningful analysis that can influence your planning process. More at: Twitter for Planning | Planetizen Courses

From Planetizen Courses —SketchUp for Planners - Advanced

Master the advanced features of SketchUp, including modelling historic structures and real-world buildings, working with SketchUp Plugins, and modelling complex forms.  More at: SketchUp for Planners - Advanced | Planetizen Courses

From Planetizen Courses — SketchUp for Planners - Intermediate Part 2

In addition to accurately modelling projects, as demonstrated in the introductory courses, SketchUp is also useful for illustrating more abstract concepts, such as FAR, dimensional requirements and design guidelines. This course demonstrates how planners use SketchUp to illustrate requirements in zoning codes, design guidelines and form based codes. More at: SketchUp for Planners - Intermediate Part 2 | Planetizen Courses

From Planetizen Courses — Design in Planning: An Overview

In this course, Planetizen brings you an overview of design in planning. Using real world examples from design guidelines, plans, and manuals, city planner Jason Kambitsis looks at how code, practice and guidelines precipitate design and the form of our cities. This overview is for students of city planning or planners who desire a refreshing overview of land use and form based codes and best practices in design formation and implementation in the United States. Read more: Design in Planning: An Overview | Planetizen Courses