City Planning Matters

Why Plans Fail

Plans can fail for a number of reasons, but in today's episode we highlight the top five causes of planning efforts failing to make it across the finish line.

The Economics of Bad Planning

In this episode, we look at how the dollars and cents of development can sometimes result in bad planning. Plus, we discuss opportunities for the land value tax and how t

Your City's Parking Problem

Most people traditionally think of parking being an issue in their City because they believe there isn't enough. The truth is that your City does have a parking problem;

Achieving Vision Zero

In this episode, we discuss Vision Zero and how to implement the program successfully.

Who Do You Serve?

Examining how cities develop service area boundaries and discussion of a new, data-driven approach to doing so. By using this methodology, cities can identify and answer

If You Build It, Will They Come?

Do walkable places result in people actually walking? Check out the Storymap I created for this episode to see the analysis and resources for what was discussed in today'

Transit Supportive Policies

Many cities struggle to have functional public transit systems. While some blame rests with the agencies on the operations side, many times it’s the lack of transit-suppo

Missing Middle Housing

In this week's episode, we discuss missing middle housing (like duplexes, triplexes and quads) and why housing choice is important to your City. While City's like Minneap

Rethinking Inequality

Traditional measures of equity typically consider only a fraction of person's day, as they rarely examine things other than where people live. In this week's episode, we

Does Walkability Matter?

Walkability is a nebulous term to that means lots of things to different people. In today's episode, we examine whether walkability matters in terms of the price people a

Visualizing Traffic Congestion

Traffic Congestion is often the number one complaint of residents in your city, but many governments struggle showing both where it occurs and the magnitude of the proble

Data Driven City

A how-to on getting started on making data-driven decisions for you and your city.

Planning and Politics

This week's episode dives into the political aspects of the field as we look at Planning and Politics and how planners can navigate this difficult landscape.

Rethinking Nonconformities

In this episode, we look at nonconforming situations as it relates to cities' zoning ordinances. We highlight common issues cities run into when it comes to enforcing exi

Generation Priced Out

In today's episode, we look at how zoning regulations and mortgage lending practices have priced out an entire generation of Americans from owning homes. This episode dis

Building Profitable Neighborhoods

In today’s episode, we examine the role mortgage lending had in shaping our neighborhoods as well as the historical arguments against the city grid.

Building Blocks

Building on the last week's episode, we examine how urban form and zoning join forces to have a powerful shaping effect on cities. The smallest unit of development in cit

Zoning Rules!

In this first episode of Planning Matters, we examine the evolution of zoning regulations in the United States from basic simple housing keeping to those of growth manage

City Planning Matters (Trailer)