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August 19, 2025
As we pass the midpoint of 2025, housing policy continues to take center stage in state legislatures. States are heading into the second half with momentum — calling bold plays to boost housing supply, modernize zoning laws, streamline permitting, and ease abundance challenges.
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August 18, 2025
As planners continue to advocate for fiscal and policy changes that would secure federal level support for local planning-led reform, the differences in each of the Trump, House, and Senate proposals would have a significant impact on the planning work that is able to move forward in our communities.
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August 13, 2025
The Trump administration has released new guidance for an electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure program established as part of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Find out how this impacts transportation and planning practices.
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August 11, 2025
Spotlight on Zoning Practice: While zoning reforms that broaden opportunities to increase housing supply are crucial, these aren’t the only reforms that can support human flourishing. In fact, there are many potential ways that we can use zoning to make places, spaces, and homes more accessible to all people, regardless of age, life stage, or abilities.
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August 5, 2025
News Release: APA, along with national partners, join "America's Housing Comeback," an initiative of the Housing Supply Accelerator, to support local governments' ongoing housing supply efforts and ignite a federal focus on policy solutions addressing the nation's housing supply shortage.
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August 4, 2025
Personal resilience is not just a professional skill, but a personal practice. Learn eight ways to build your resilience framework to improve your ability to cope with stress by shifting how you process daily experiences.
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August 1, 2025
The ROAD to Housing Act is the biggest housing package in a generation, made possible through bipartisan compromise and support for local reforms. It marks an important victory in bipartisan federal action on housing.
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August 1, 2025
The new Senate THUD bill provides more funding than the House Committee's version.
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July 31, 2025
Uncovering JAPA: Discover a study of California’s Senate Bill 379 found that flexible, state-mandated climate adaptation planning modestly improved local efforts but revealed persistent challenges in coordination, engagement, and local capacity.
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July 24, 2025
Global Perspectives: Discover how medium-sized cities can experience segregation levels comparable to those of major metropolises, highlighting the need for place-specific planning strategies that reflect local economic, social, and institutional dynamics.
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July 21, 2025
In times of political instability and economic pessimism, planners cannot rely on our work to speak for itself. The final part of this three-part series offers tips to help planners document the specific sources that fund their positions, explore alternative funding sources, and share stories about the value of planning with decision-makers.
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July 18, 2025
On July 4, President Trump signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (HR 1). Learn more about the important changes impacting the planning profession.
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July 18, 2025
APA joins national partners to celebrate America's 250th by honoring local governments and their role in building strong communities.
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July 18, 2025
The U.S. House of Representatives took the first step toward approving a spending bill covering funding for the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (THUD). Find out how this impacts planning.
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July 18, 2025
Global Perspectives: Discover how Small Island Developing States (SIDS) use global ties and niche strategies to navigate geographic and economic challenges.
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July 15, 2025
APA has partnered with NOAA's Digital Coast Program for nearly twenty years. Bipartisan legislation seeks to reauthorize the program and ensure planners can access vital and timely coastal data.
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July 15, 2025
Over 70 advocates across 27 states nationwide met with members of Congress in both parties to share why their communities need federal support for housing and local zoning reform at APA’s online Planners’ Day on Capitol Hill.
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July 14, 2025
Spotlight on Zoning Practice: Could we use downzoning in combination with voluntary transfer of development rights programs to move development away from flood-prone coastal areas?
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July 10, 2025
Global Perspectives: Learn how Germany's logistics strategies, from regional planning to rural delivery via public transit, offer planners sustainable, equitable models to address land use, infrastructure, and demographic challenges.
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July 7, 2025
The decisions federal, state, and local officials make about how to pay for planning have consequences not only for the future of the profession but also for the long-term health of the communities we serve. Part 2 of this three-part series takes a closer look at how three previous disruptive periods affected funding patterns for local planning work.
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July 7, 2025
With new and old issues continuing to put stress on planners, personal resilience and support from peers have taken on greater importance. Get advice from several planning directors on how to navigate challenging times.
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July 2, 2025
Colorado Governor Jared Polis has signed the Regional Planning Roundtable Commission into law, a landmark measure that prohibits local governments from enforcing occupancy limits based solely on familial relationships. The APA Colorado Chapter was instrumental in the development of this legislation, authoring the bill and working closely to move it through the legislative process.
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June 30, 2025
The Austin metro was the country's fastest-growing region from 2010 to 2022, according to census data, and housing demand outpaced supply. A series of changes to land use regulations is helping to improve affordability and availability of housing.
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June 27, 2025
AICP Ethics Officer Ralph Willmer, FAICP, provides an update on how AICP-certified planners can navigate the current political landscape and maintain adherence to the AICP Code of Ethics.
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June 26, 2025
Global Perspectives: Learn how France improved urban data comparability while preserving local context through standardization, a centralized platform, and public-private collaboration.
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June 25, 2025
A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado, limited the scope of reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and strongly encouraged greater judicial deference to agency reviews and decisions.
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June 24, 2025
Emerging planners may face a future different than what they imagined a year ago as federal policy rapidly changes. Five planning professors offer tips on how to be successful as early-career professionals.
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June 23, 2025
As federal policy shifts threaten core planning-related programs, pandemic-recovery funding ends, and the specter of economic recession looms larger, it's time for planners to take a close look at the sources of funding that pay for their positions. Part One of this three-part series explores how we pay for planning now and reviews some warning signs we've seen through the first half of 2025.
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June 23, 2025
Planners can learn applicable approaches to managing stress and improving personal resilience from surgeons, therapists, and first responders working in high-stress jobs.
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June 23, 2025
The Trump administration aims to announce a plan to overhaul the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in late 2025.
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June 17, 2025
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced a new process for approving waivers to vehicle design standards. The move has significant implications for autonomous vehicles (AVs) which require waivers for omitting required safety elements.
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June 16, 2025
Reflecting on the success of the Housing Supply Accelerator Playbook, a one-of-a-kind guide for boosting attainable housing supply, and the launch of the Housing Supply Accelerator Challenge led by APA and NLC to further support communities.
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June 12, 2025
Global Perspectives: Discover how deep cultural ties, economic constraints, and policy gaps influence why residents in Japan’s flood-prone areas choose to stay, offering planners valuable insights for community-informed resilience strategies.
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June 11, 2025
Spotlight on Zoning Practice: Zoning may not be the primary regulatory tool for childcare facilities, but that doesn't mean it isn't an important tool for expanding access to childcare.
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June 10, 2025
Reflecting on the one-year anniversary of the Housing Supply Accelerator Playbook and introducing the Housing Supply Accelerator Challenge, a nationwide network designed to accelerate the implementation of proven and innovative housing strategies and expand the supply of housing in communities across the country.
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June 9, 2025
The phases of emergency management can be a useful framework for preparing and coping with threats to local planning activities.
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June 5, 2025
Global Perspectives: See how three European countries are modernizing cadastral systems through 3D mapping, public-private collaboration, and AI to deliver more accurate, accessible, and future-ready land data for planners.
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June 3, 2025
As housing affordability and supply challenges intensify nationwide, states are recognizing that comprehensive solutions require broad collaboration. In states across the country, coalitions of business leaders, housing advocates, planners, and community members are coming together to craft policies that reflect their communities’ unique needs.
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May 29, 2025
Global Perspectives: Discover how Germany’s Kinzig Valley balances rural identity with urban reliance—underscoring the need for planning approaches that integrate small towns into metropolitan governance without erasing their unique character.
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May 22, 2025
The U.S. House of Representatives passed its 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' in a narrow, late-night vote. For planners, the bill's housing, infrastructure finance, clean energy, and economic development elements are especially critical. Learn about the mixed bag of policies included in the bill.
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May 22, 2025
Global Perspectives: Learn how Vienna and Hungary use effective land management strategies to equip planners with powerful tools for improving affordable housing access and shaping equitable urban futures.
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May 22, 2025
Learn how nature can help reduce your stress and improve your mental health and overall well-being, and how much time you need to spend in the outdoors to achieve positive benefits.
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May 21, 2025
To explore accelerating momentum to increase housing supply and tackle housing affordability, APA hosted a session on "State Momentum for Housing Reform." The discussion featured expert panelists who examine recent state-level efforts, emerging trends, and where housing policy is headed next.
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May 20, 2025
As federal databases are moved off of government websites, other institutions such as nonprofits and universities are stepping in to preserve and house this data.
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May 19, 2025
When APA and ICMA launched Solar@Scale in late 2020, relatively few communities referenced large-scale solar energy systems in their zoning codes. Nearly five years later, zoning regulations for community- and utility-scale solar energy systems are much more common, we are seeing the emergence of more nuanced regulatory approaches.
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May 15, 2025
Global Perspectives: Learn how Japan’s approach to aging condominiums offers planners a flexible model for keeping older housing viable amid shifting demographics worldwide.
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May 15, 2025
Spotlight on Zoning Practice: It isn't 1959 anymore. What are the keys to an effective modern incentive zoning scheme?
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May 13, 2025
The effects of the nationwide housing supply crisis were pushing Columbus, Ohio, to the brink.
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May 12, 2025
With the new unpredictability of some federal grants, many communities are looking for other ways to drive federal investment into local planning and projects. An alternative, or perhaps a supplement, to either discretionary grants or formula-based funding may be congressionally directed spending, known as “earmarks.”
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May 9, 2025
Learn how to apply scenario planning to help you deal with uncertainty.
