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Planning Issues for On-site and Decentralized Wastewater Treatment
PAS Report 542by: Wayne Feiden, FAICP, Eric WinklerWastewater treatment systems need to be sited, designed, and managed to protect the environment and support growth goals. This PAS Report explains how.List Price$25.00APA member & PAS subscriber$0.00 -
Planning for On-Street EV Charging Infrastructure
PAS Memo 115The presence of on-street charging infrastructure for electric vehicles provides important access for EV owners without access to private chargers and can help quell the fear of running out of battery power, a major barrier to EV adoption and use. -
Development Codes for Built Out Communities
Zoning Practice — August 2006by: Mark White, AICP August 01, 2006This issue of Zoning Practice addresses the unique concerns of applying development codes to built out communities, including ensuring appropriate context and managing the public process.List Price$10.00ZP subscriber$0.00 -
Putting Parks First
Open space is a very big deal in Seattle.January 01, 2015Thanks to its parks and open space, Seattle and surrounding areas are a very healthy region. But it didn't just happen that way; the city made green space a priority in the early 1900s and has built on that legacy ever since. -
Planning for Sustainable Material and Waste Management
PAS Report 587by: Ning Ai, Nancey Leigh, FAICP May 01, 2017Communities are caught in a swirl of competing needs and goals for material and waste management. This PAS Report gives planners six concrete ideas to meet the complex challenge.List price$25.00APA member & PAS subscriber$0.00 -
Sign of the Times
The Supreme Court weighed in on signs last summer, but for planners those regulations are always on the docket.February 01, 2016A look at changing legislation and trends for signs. -
San Francisco Celebrates 30 Years of Trails
November 01, 2019The plan that created the idea of a 500-mile hiking trail along the edge of the San Francisco Bay turned 30 this year. -
Out With the Old, in With the New: The Cost of Teardowns
Zoning Practice — June 2005by: Lane KendigThis issue of Zoning Practice discusses zoning tools to help communities deal with excessive residential teardowns.List Price$10.00ZP subscriber$0.00 -
Local Agricultural Preservation: Making the Food System Connection
PAS Memo — March/April 2011Local food deserves a fair chance to compete in the marketplace and in the hearts, minds, and mouths of all. Planners have a major role to play in educating the public, helping to put in place the components of a viable food system, and advocating change at systemic as well as local levels. -
Funding for More Than a Rainy Day
Bipartisan congressional action signals a potential shift in federal disaster dollar allocations.August 01, 2019Planners have been arguing for years that disaster mitigation is simply good business, but communities need to take action when the funds are available. -
Planning for Street Connectivity: Getting From Here to There
PAS Report 515by: Susan Handy, Robert Paterson, Kent Butler June 01, 2003Planners, decision makers, and residents can benefit from a better understanding of the concept of street connectivity. This PAS Report offers examples from case studies of 14 communities and excerpts from their codes.List Price$25.00APA member & PAS subscriber$0.00 -
Climate Migrants Are on the Move
Which cities need to plan for population booms?by: Daniel Vock January 01, 2021Geography alone won’t turn communities into climate change migrant receiver cities. Communities must think about their own sustainability and prepare their existing residents for changes to come. -
Planning for Climate Readiness — And Growth
Using climate vulnerability assessments and long-range master planning, Boston and Cambridge address the dual demands of climate change and economic development.March 01, 2018Web-only expanded version: Boston and its neighbor, Cambridge, are taking seriously the need to connect the results of their climate vulnerability assessments with emerging master planning efforts. -
Planning for Infrastructure Resilience
PAS Report 596by: Joseph DeAngelis, AICP, Haley Briel, Michael Lauer, AICPInfrastructure systems and facilities across the country are increasingly threatened by the rising seas and storm events of climate change. This PAS Report helps planners ensure that the public investments of today yield infrastructure that can withstand the floods of the future.List price$0.00APA member & PAS subscriber$0.00 -
Fast Food’s Bad Rap
July 01, 2016Planners should rethink their opposition to fast food and try to understand the role it plays in communities with few food options. -
Appalachian Vision
Southwestern North Carolina organizes thousands to develop a regional framework.February 01, 2015In the fall of 2014, seven southwestern North Carolina counties and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians collaborated to create a regional plan. Driving the project was the need to unite the area around the unfinished final segments of Corridor K of the Appalachian Development Highway System. -
A Business Case for Dropping Parking Minimums
In the smallest of towns and the biggest of cities, these new zoning reform policies help boost small businesses, promote housing development, and put people over parking.by: Jeff Spivak June 01, 2022In the smallest of towns and the biggest of cities, these new zoning reform policies help boost small businesses, promote housing development, and put people over parking. -
The Water Within
Rain poses a more regular threat than hurricanes in New Orleans — but it’s also an untapped asset.January 01, 2018Most agree that a fundamentally different approach is needed to manage New Orleans's stormwater. A 2013 water plan envisions a dramatically different-looking city. -
Implementation Project Assessment: A New Tool For Implementing Community Plans
PAS Memo 120Planners can use the implementation project assessment process to evaluate all potential implementation projects based on plan alignment, feasibility, and community impact, allowing them to identify the projects that will be the best candidates for successful plan implementation. -
Improving Public Health and Equity Through Climate Change Mitigation Planning
PAS Memo 122Climate change mitigation planning advances health equity in two ways: slowing or reversing climate change will limit climate change–related health and health equity impacts, and climate change mitigation strategies can directly improve public health and health equity. -
Activating Ground Floors in Mixed-Use Buildings After COVID
Zoning Practice — August 2022This issue of Zoning Practice looks at the actions of several communities trying to promote successful mixed-use development, including communities that have adopted stricter criteria for where ground-floor retail is appropriate and communities that have reduced the number of locations where ground-floor retail is mandated. -
Equitable Zoning for Home Occupations
Zoning Practice — September 2023This issue of Zoning Practice explores how zoning regulations can remove unintentional and inequitable barriers to working from home. It briefly examines the reasons why zoning reform is necessary before providing recommendations to help planners draft updated standards that better reflect existing conditions and advance equity in zoning. -
Climate-Resilient Floating Residences
Zoning Practice — February 2024This issue of Zoning Practice explores the climate-adaptive features of floating residences, describes the different types of floating residences and the regulatory barriers they face, explains how local jurisdictions typically regulate floating residences, and suggests some climate-smart zoning strategies for these structures. -
Zoning for Biosafety
Zoning Practice — July 2024This issue of Zoning Practice explores how some communities use zoning to prevent or mitigate biosafety risks associated with biological research and development facilities. It begins with a brief summary of key biosafety concepts as well as the market and regulatory conditions affecting biolabs before examining basic zoning considerations and highlighting potential model approaches. -
Strike Two for Urban Revitalization
February 01, 2016In the Viewpoint column from Planning magazine’s February 2016 issue, policy and planning consultant Kris Hartley discusses stadium projects. -
Cohabiting the City with Nature
August 01, 2017Thanks to an ongoing study, Chicago may be the first city to fully understand how animals live, move, and reproduce in urban environments. -
Curb Control
Parking is so passé. Swiftly changing mobility options and competing priorities mean planners need to practice active curb management.June 01, 2019Curbs are quickly evolving into hyperlocal transportation terminals. Planners need to update their methods to think about curb use on a minute-by-minute scale. -
When Man Makes the Disaster
In these cases, resilience involves analysis and introspection.Man-made disasters require self-analysis and reflection. -
Smart Cities or Surveillance Cities?
The terrain is shifting for this movement, as many of us wonder aloud whether the urban tech utopia is all it’s cracked up to be.March 01, 2019Ever-present technology is shaping our cities, and planners across North America have entered the conversation about this new social contract. -
Planning for Action
Communities in crisis take on affordability with Housing Action Plans.March 01, 2019Housing Action Plans take into account the full range of a city’s housing challenges to set priorities, identify solutions, and build a long-term, holistic plan of action. -
Toward a Grounded Theory of Sustainable Zoning
May 01, 2015This Research You Can Use column from the May 2015 issue of Planning explores research and planning tools to promote smart growth. -
Big Data and Planning
PAS Report 585by: Kevin Desouza, Kendra Smith December 05, 2016Data sets are growing so large and complex that using them is like drinking from a fire hose. But big data isn’t a problem, it’s the solution. This PAS Report shows how to use it.List price$25.00APA member & PAS subscriber$0.00 -
Planning With Diverse Communities
PAS Report 593by: Ivis Garcia, AICP, Andrea Garfinkel-Castro, Deirdre Pfeiffer, AICP January 01, 2019The U.S. will become a “majority-minority” country by the mid-2040s. More than before, planners must serve diverse publics and build inclusive communities. This PAS Report offers the tools planners need to engage people of color and improve quality of life for all in ethnically and racially diverse communities.List price$25.00APA member & PAS subscriber$0.00 -
Welcome to Beer Country
Small breweries are a big deal — and some cities are courting them.February 01, 2015Demand for craft beers is on the rise, and as a result craft breweries have been popping up across the nation. Their presence is having a big impact on some local economies and is presenting zoning and policy challenges. With a sidebar on efforts to build a "food corridor" in Raleigh, North Carolina. -
The Scales of Gentrification
Cities strive to find the balance point between revitalization and gentrification.December 01, 2018"Gentrification" means as many different things as there are cities dealing with its impact. But are cities effectively dealing with its impact, either positive or negative? -
From Aerospace to the Tech Race
Seattle's economy has an enviable mix of legacy companies and newer powerhouses.January 01, 2015Seattle has rapidly emerged as an economic leader in the Pacific Northwest, thanks to policies friendly to the tech, aerospace, trade, and health care industries and the nine Fortune 500 companies headquartered there. -
Beacon Hill’s Enchanted Food Forest
Sandy Pernitz, the Seattle city staff person who works directly with the Beacon Food Forest, tells the tale of how the community rallied around an innovative project in food systems planning. -
Cross Talk
Make sure your messages to nonplanning audiences don’t get lost in translation.October 01, 2019The words planners use to talk about planning are important. If we want our plans to become reality, we need to make our cases to local politicians and, increasingly, the court of public opinion. -
Partnering with Health Systems on Affordable Housing Investments
PAS Memo — March-April 2021This PAS Memo explains why and how planners can partner with hospitals and health systems to create more equitable communities. It draws from the experiences of six hospitals and health systems participating in Accelerating Investments for Healthy Communities. -
Using Metrics to Drive Community Sustainability Efforts
PAS Memo — May/June 2011Assessing where the community is and creating a plan to move in a more sustainable direction requires a process that must be tailored to the individual community's needs. There are basic issue areas that cannot be left out of the process, such as transportation and zoning, but the goals and targets are dependent on the viable outcomes and reachable objectives decided by the community. -
Integrating Capital Improvements Planning With the Comprehensive Plan
PAS Memo — September/October 2018Capital investments are generally planned, designed, funded, and constructed entirely outside of the planning department's zone of control. Given this reality, it can take a bit of creativity and persistence to ensure that the comprehensive plan influences and informs the capital improvement program (CIP). -
Preserving Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing
Zoning Practice — December 2023This issue of Zoning Practice addresses how local governments can use zoning to preserve the existing supply of older, modest home. It briefly summarizes housing market conditions that illustrate the importance of naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH) and presents a range of potential zoning strategies communities could use to slow the loss of NOAH. -
That Unwelcome Stranger Called Climate Change
Adapting to it locally.October 01, 2015Climate change adaptation is made more difficult when changes occur suddenly. -
Christchurch Recovers
In New Zealand, collaboration is key.August 01, 2015Christchurch, New Zealand, rebuilds after two major earthquakes. -
6 Tips for Inclusive Public Meetings
March 01, 2019Some planners and communities are trying to reshape public engagement with a focus on different approaches and more diverse participation. -
More Trees, Please
Cooperative urban forestry planning is bringing green to our concrete jungles, and the benefits go far beyond aesthetics.June 01, 2017Today, city trees are considered infrastructure as necessary as roads, bridges, pipes, and tunnels. -
Keeping Hoofs Off Hoods
Highway overpasses for wildlife expand species’ habitats and help reduce collisions that harm humans.March 01, 2017Highway engineers and wildlife biologists have long tried to keep hoofs away from hoods, but with blinkered success. -
Smart Cities: Behind the Scenes With Austin, Portland, San Francisco
by: Emily PasiThis is the second of a two-part series on the plans behind DOT's Smart City Challenge. -
Going Rogue Goes Mainstream
Planners are using tactical urbanism strategies to stretch rules and dollars to make big impacts in small and rural communities.June 01, 2018Tactical urbanism is not for hipsters only. Rural and small town planners are exploring its potential as a cost-effective way to boost civic engagement. -
The Impossible Task of Mapping the Future
Absent a crystal ball, the enormously complex region uses scenario planning tools to determine how it should grow.January 01, 2017The enormously complex New York region uses scenario planning tools to determine how it should grow.