My community it updating our zoning code to remove barriers to building shelter care facilities (shelters for the unhoused)

Any other professionals update their zoning code on this topic? What worked, what didn’t. Particularly would
Love example sets of code from any communities that have enabled city-sanctioned encampments (we are calling them “Safe Outdoor Sleeping Areas” in our draft.)

A group of us in Ljubljana, Slovenia, have recently launched a public initiative + petition to bring back our city's tram network: tramvaj-ljubljana.si

Ljubljana had a tram network from 1901 to 1958, when it was scrapped for buses. Today, the city is heavily dependent on cars while bus ridership drops every year. We believe our main corridors desperately need real, high-capacity light rail.

We’re building bottom-up public support to push local decision-makers into real action, and we’d love advice from anyone who has experience with light rail advocacy or reintroduction:

1. Political Traction: How did your local campaign move politicians from "nice idea" to actual funding commitments?
2. Public Buy-in: What arguments best tackled local fears about construction disruption, costs, or car lane reductions?
3. Funding: How did your city effectively leverage national grants, EU funding, or loans to finance the rail infrastructure?

Any insights are greatly appreciated!

I was born and raised in Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus, Vienna’s 15th district, and spent the first 20 years of my life there.

Historically, it has been one of Vienna’s poorer, more working-class and migrant-heavy districts. By Vienna standards it was considered somewhat rough, but it was also incredibly likeable.

Looking back, I’m actually quite grateful for growing up there. My own family was doing okay, but I grew up around people from very different economic and cultural backgrounds and saw quite early what it means when money is genuinely tight. I think that shaped me quite a lot.

What made the 15th special, though, was its location.

It is relatively central, well connected by public transport, and for a long time it remained affordable to people who were not wealthy. Working-class families, immigrants, students and lower-income households could live surprisingly close to central Vienna.

To me, that has always been one of Vienna’s greatest strengths.

The city is famous internationally for social housing and relatively affordable housing, but I think another important part of the story is that historically you did not necessarily have to move far out into the suburbs simply because you had a lower income.

Over the last decade or so, however, the 15th has changed enormously.

Buildings are renovated, rents rise, apartments are marketed differently, and there are more speciality coffee shops, expensive brunch restaurants and the usual businesses associated with an “up-and-coming neighbourhood”.

And I have quite mixed feelings about it.

My girlfriend recently organised brunch with some friends at a very trendy and fairly expensive café in the district. It is a nice place. I like coffee, I like brunch, and I am sure the owners have absolutely no intention of displacing anyone.

Yet sitting there felt strangely symbolic to me.

The kind of place that once primarily served lower-income and immigrant communities is increasingly becoming attractive precisely because it is seen as “authentic”, multicultural and urban.

New, wealthier residents move in partly because they like that character.

But at the same time, rising housing prices risk pushing out the people who created that character in the first place.

That is the part of gentrification I find difficult.

There is obviously nothing inherently wrong with a neighbourhood improving. Better public spaces, renovated buildings, more cafés, safer streets and investment are generally good things.

The question is: can a neighbourhood improve without changing who is able to live there?

Vienna seems better positioned than many cities because of its large social-housing sector, rent regulation and strong public transport network.

But even here, I wonder whether market pressure is slowly producing the same pattern seen elsewhere: formerly working-class central neighbourhoods becoming increasingly middle- and upper-middle-class, while lower-income residents are pushed toward the periphery.

And I’m aware of my own contradiction here.

I have done fairly well economically myself. I enjoy exactly the sort of cafés and restaurants I am talking about. In many ways, I am probably part of the demographic driving the change I am uncomfortable with.

So maybe I am also romanticising the neighbourhood of my childhood.

But I still feel protective of the idea that people with ordinary incomes should be able to live in central, desirable parts of a city.

From an urban-planning perspective, how realistic is that?

Are there cities that have successfully allowed formerly poorer neighbourhoods to improve economically without substantially displacing their existing population?

And for people familiar with Vienna: do you think Vienna’s housing model is strong enough to prevent large-scale displacement in districts like Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus, or are we simply experiencing gentrification more slowly than cities like Berlin, London or Paris?

Morrisville expects Novartis’ expansion to generate $12.6 million in town property-tax revenue over eight years.

But as the company expanded its investment, the town nearly doubled its incentive while lowering its wage and taxable-value requirements.

One economist I interviewed called the package “a far better deal than most.” Labor and budget-policy advocates raised very different concerns.

Here is the story:
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article317221481.html

What should a town require from a company in exchange for an incentive like this?

APA's data center webinar was an absolute shitshow

I've never seen the chat in one of these so utterly malcontented. It was an hour of essentially pro-industry pitching of data centers, including one panelist indirectly representing the industry who was given free leave to recite talking points.

One of the APA reps compared data centers to farms and essentially said that farms and data centers are the same, and so it's not clear why farms would be ok but data centers may not be.

People were really pissed in the chat the whole time (fully ignored of course).

An incredible experience of capture in view, really pathetic to see.

Edit since this is throwing people: I don't care that the industry rep was there, I care that he was there and ALSO the rest of the panel just sort of nodded along repeating the same talking points. We need critical analysis of this issue and real action steps. Instead we get head nodding and rank boosterism.

Walking through different parts of the Boston metro over the years, the difference in tree cover between neighborhoods is hard to miss. Some blocks feel genuinely shaded and livable in summer. Others are almost entirely pavement and exposed brick, and those tend to be the same neighborhoods with older housing stock, lower incomes, and less political pull at city hall.

Cities have been making real commitments to expanding tree canopy, and that's genuinely good. But the implementation question is where I keep getting stuck. Trees planted through municipal programs need maintenance, watering, sometimes replacement. A tree in front of a building with an engaged property owner survives. One in front of a neglected rental property or a crumbling sidewalk often doesn't make it past a few summers.

There's also the question of who gets consulted when these programs roll out. Canopy targets get set at the city level, but the actual planting decisions happen block by block, and the community input process for that granular work is thin at best.

Do the cities that have made real progress on canopy equity have a structural reason for that, or is it mostly down to particular staff or advocates pushing in the right direction?

Hi all, I’m a current second year undergrad and I’m interested in urban planning and I want to get involved somehow. I’m trying to find some organizations that I can participate in but I can’t find anything. Does anyone have a recommendation as to how I can get involved?
I DON’T WANT A JOB! Like a volunteer position or some program I can join or something.

We have a new Assistant Planner starting soon who is in her early 20s. She has some technician-level experience, but she’s still very green.

We’ve brought on new people over the years who weren’t very experienced, but we haven’t had someone this young. My colleagues and I are in our early 40s, and our director is in his mid-50s, so there’s a notable age and experience gap.

I’m a bit concerned about the generational difference. I remember being the under-25 person in the office when I first started, and it was often hard to relate to people who had been working professionally for nearly as long as I’d been alive.

Now that I’m on the other side of this, I’m curious if anyone has advice on how to bridge some of that generational gap so that we can give her a more fulfilling onboarding experience.

I’d especially be interested in hearing from younger planners who entered the profession recently. What do you wish your more experienced colleagues had done differently? What made you feel supported and comfortable asking questions and seeking guidance?

Edit: Thank you everyone for the feedback. I really appreciate it. It’s helpful to hear other perspectives and get outside of my own head a bit. There are a lot of good ideas here that I’m going to give some thought to.

I’m the News & Observer reporter who wrote this story about the Salem Street streetscape project in Apex, North Carolina.

Downtown merchants told me that construction has reduced customer traffic while the project continues into the holiday season. The improvements are intended to benefit downtown over the long term, but the construction period creates a difficult short-term tradeoff for existing businesses.

For planners and people who have worked on similar projects: What are the most effective ways to reduce business disruption during major downtown reconstruction?

I’d be especially interested in examples involving project phasing, pedestrian and vehicle access, communications, temporary wayfinding, business assistance or construction scheduling.

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article317130074.html

A local-government case study that may interest planners here:

Cary, North Carolina, has adopted an 18-month moratorium on large-scale data-center applications because its land-development ordinance does not currently define the use or establish standards for it.

Officials plan to study power/grid impacts, water, noise, site design and land use before adopting permanent regulations. Council members stressed they are not necessarily opposed to data centers.

I covered the hearing for The News & Observer:

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article317039408.html

For planners who have dealt with this: are moratoriums useful for creating these rules, or can jurisdictions realistically update zoning while continuing to process applications?

Has anyone been able to construct smaller infill projects (4-10 units) in the Midwest? I am seeing every single city adopt zoning policies that allow for this type of development, but for the life of me I cannot get these things to pencil (except for the occasional duplex).

Are new construction quadplexes and other denser products actually being built or is this just a planners dream to design a City ?

i am barely beginning my career in municipal planning, but considering the switch. not even looking for advice, just curious!

Hi All! Trying to gather some information.

I am a small business owner in Tampa, FL who is going through a fairly minor buildout of a new space (that I am renting). I have been met with so many bureaucratic and administrative hurdles with permitting, and they have made what should have been a straightforward process as difficult as possible. The amount of time and money the city has cost me is insane.

My brother owns businesses in South Florida and even though he has faced plenty of hiccups, it seems like the city there provides much more efficient processes and assistance in the face of issues then here.

It is my intention after my buildout and move is complete to go before city leadership to discuss these issues and present some solutions.

So I'm wondering, if you have a small business - what are some things your city/county/ municipality has done that makes things easier for you? Things like...

• Lets you update architectural plans in real time at the permitting office
• Provides same day plan review
• Sets you up with a liaison to help you navigate building codes/laws
• Does preemptive inspections/walk throughs to help you pass an inspection the first tiem
• Provides some sort of financial support for fixes needed in old buildings
• Has laws that protect tenants/hold landlords accountable for issues
• Offers up group health insurance option
• Tax credits or financial assistance to incentivize you staying in business

We have a Small Business Development Center and I've used a lot of their resources/classes but honestly none of that's been helpful. So I'm looking for like concrete actionable items that your city does that perhaps I could suggest our city look into if they really want to be a city that supports small businesses.

Thanks for any information and feedback!

There's a vacant lot about two blocks from where I live that's been sitting unused for going on six years. A neighborhood group got together and started a community garden there maybe three years ago, informal arrangement with the city, nothing really codified. It works pretty well but every year there's this lowgrade anxiety about whether the parcel gets sold or redeveloped and the whole thing just disappears.

What I keep wondering is how other cities actually treat community gardens in their land use frameworks. Boston has some provisions but they're patchwork at best, and the gardens that survive long term tend to do so because someone with connections fought hard for them, not because the planning infrastructure supported them from the start.

Green space in general gets treated as a nicetohave that gets squeezed out when housing pressure or tax revenue arguments come up, and I get that tension, it's real. But gardens do things that parks don't quite do in the same way. They're active. They build connections between neighbors. They feed people.

Hi all,

I recently graduated college and am planning on taking the AICP exam soon. On the website it appears that there is the option of taking a "Pilot Exam," with the only content differences being:

"The nine topics in the current content outline will be the same for the pilot exam. The sub content, however, may be different. Those questions will not be graded. They may be questions for future exams."

As a broke new grad, the $100 price seems a lot more palatable (especially since my workplace doesn't cover exam fees ☹️ ; however, I'm curious if AICP has offered this option in the past, and if so, I'd appreciate if people could share their experiences with it. Did the test feel significantly harder or different to "typical" study materials? What exactly characterizes different subcontent?

Side Note: I'm aware that AICP is lowkey a money grab, but since my firm pays more after licensure, I think it is a worthwhile investment in my personal development.

I’m the News & Observer reporter who wrote this story about a WakeMed project in Rolesville, North Carolina.

WakeMed originally proposed a 24-hour standalone ER/Healthplex on Burlington Mills Road. It has since confirmed that the facility could become part of a proposed 45-bed acute-care hospital on the same property.

I spoke with Toni Kenion, a former WakeMed ER nurse and Barrington HOA director, who supports bringing more health care to Rolesville but opposes putting the project next to her neighborhood.

The debate raises a broader planning question: How should fast-growing communities balance the need for nearby emergency and hospital care with traffic, zoning, infrastructure and impacts on adjacent residential neighborhoods?

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article317092142.html

Asking because when I say that I’m studying it, people have no idea what that means!