Getting the Density You Want
Perhaps nothing gets a community more riled up than a discussion of density. How can you plan for the density that works best for your community?
Urban Design
These articles and postings look at different ways in which design and our visual environment can shape the character of our cities and towns.
Available to Order & Download — Our Reprint Collection: Design & Aesthetics (19 articles)
Continue to older articles & posts — or return to newer ones — where you see the green buttons at the bottom of the page.
Downtown Housing -Minus Parking +Plus Commercial
The residents and business owners of Saratoga Springs, New York, treasure their downtown. Two planning priorities: increase the amount of housing downtown and ensure retail on the ground floor of buildings.
Pattern Books: A Planning Tool
“Pattern books” filled with historical and architectural data and guidelines can help cities and towns protect and enhance their identity. The push to create them often comes after a community creates a special redevelopment district, or witnesses buildings that seem out of place.
The Importance of Cookies
Don’t lose sight of the little things that make life enjoyable in our community.
D is for Design
Urban designers established the foundations of American community and regional planning in the second half of the 19th century, and early 20th century. Their visions of a more ideal America kindled efforts that were realized in the community comprehensive plan and in other ways.
Fitting Roadways to Community Needs
A recent report by the Institute of Transportation Engineers report integrates transportation objectives of roadways with considerations about the built environment and pedestrian needs.
Downtown Hurdles
It should be no harder to develop downtown than elsewhere. Yet, as PCJ columnist Kennedy Smith argues, too many regulatory hurdles often face downtown development.
Controlling Strip Development
One of the most common problems facing planners is how to deal with commercial strip development along major road corridors. Some approaches communities can consider to better deal with strip development.
Planning for Historic Preservation
Planning Commissioners Journal issue #52 included a series of articles providing an introduction to historic preservation planning and why it is has become important to our cities and towns. The download includes the full issue.
Creating Places that Work
Kathleen Madden of Project for Public Spaces discusses “placemaking” and the role of the community in creating vibrant public spaces.
An Introduction to Urban Design
What do you see when you walk down the main street of your city? Are the buildings and public spaces interesting to look at? Do you feel comfortable and secure? In this well-illustrated 7 page article, planner and landscape architect Ilene Watson provides an introduction to urban design..
Public Buildings Should Set the Standard
Until the last half of the 20th century, key public buildings were almost always designed and built to be focal points of their communities. Unfortunately, in recent decades the trend has been to build cheaply in peripheral locations.
An Introduction to Design Guidelines
A growing number of cities and towns are using design guidelines to help preserve or reinforce the distinctive architectural character of certain areas or districts. Planner Ilene Watson explains what design guidelines are and how they can be used.
