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Form-Based Codes 101: Legal Aspects
This course explores the legal issues of creating and using a form-based code.
Form-Based Codes 101: Citywide and Countywide Code Updates
The final course in the "Form-Based Codes 101" series explores citywide form-based coding—the assessment of an entire city to determine where form-based code application should occur.
Real Estate Debt for Planners
This course introduces planners to basic concepts of real estate debt, including metrics used in obtaining a mortgage and other concepts like borrowing capacity, and amortization analysis.
The Story of Sprawl
This series of historic films, ranging from 1939 until 1965, offers a unique look at the forces that created urban sprawl.
The Story of Sprawl - With Commentary Tracks
This series of historic films, ranging from 1939 until 1965, offers a unique look at the forces that created urban sprawl. Join expert commentators as we go back in time and uncover how America changed shape.
Introduction to Healthy Communities
This course provides an overview of the healthy community movement and the relationship between health and planning.
Comprehensive Planning for Healthy Communities
This course covers the process of incorporating public health goals into a General Plan or Comprehensive Plan for a region, county, city, town, or neighborhood.
Regulating Electronic Message Centers
This course provides practical, solution-focused guidance for regulations that leverage digital sign technology while protecting community aesthetic values and safety concerns. This course is available for free.
Frontage Types and the Public Realm
This course reviews the 10 primary frontage types and how each shapes the public realm. This course focuses on understanding the features and distinctions of each type and in which locations or contexts each is appropriate.
The American City, Part 1: A Brief History of the Regular Grid
Learn why the regular grid has been a standard part of the town planning vocabulary around the world for nearly five millennia.
Legal Issues in Sign Codes
This course provides basic knowledge of the legal issues involved in sign codes, focusing on constitutionally-compliant sign codes in the aftermath of U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Reed v Town of Gilbert
The American City, Part 2: The Invention of a New Scale
Understand how the physical characteristics of block size and street length distinguish American cities from earlier models of urbanism, and the implications of these physical characteristics for sustainability in the 21st century.
The American City, Part 3: Learning from the Grid
This course demonstrates the well-defined formal composition and spatial processes of how American cities evolve over time.
Missing Middle Housing: Meeting the Growing Demand for Walkable Urbanism
Learn about Missing Middle Housing and how to integrate these types into existing neighborhoods.
The American City, Part 4: Complexity and Pattern in the City
Understand how sustainable urbanism can be a crucial component of the urban pattern, or otherwise subverted by government regulations and business models.
Planning and the Law: The Takings Clause
This course will help students understand and explore three legal concepts borne of the United States Constitution's Takings Clause: eminent domain, regulatory takings, and exactions. By the end of the course, students will be able to identify whether a particular government action is at risk of violating the Takings Clause.
Planning and the Law: Procedural Due Process
The United States Constitution protects rights to "due process." In a land use law context, due process is why local governments must treat legislative and quasi-judicial decision making differently. At the end of this course, students will be able to differentiate between legislative and quasi-judicial decisions and to understand the due process implications of the distinction.
Parking Reform Made Easy
Reforming minimum parking requirements is one of the most effective ways to support Smart Growth. This course explains the many problems created by the parking regulation status quo before presenting a process for reform, providing examples of parking management tools, and discussing strategies for dealing with political and stakeholder issues.
Regulating Sex Businesses, Part 1: Principles and Foundations
This course shows how to lay the foundation for ordinances that mitigate the negative effects of sex businesses while conforming with constitutional requirements under the First Amendment.
Regulating Sex Businesses, Part 2: Practical Tips
This course will provide practical tips for developing local zoning and licensing regulations for sexually oriented businesses. This course builds on material from Part 1 of this two-part series.
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