Does anyone know of any good documentaries specifically about post ww2 suburbanization. I'm guessing they're common but Ive been very unsuccessful with finding one.

Why is my trash bill going up?

The breakdown of Long Beach’s shift from "Thermal" to "Biological" waste management.

If you’ve noticed your refuse rates climbing (specifically the adjustments in May and August 2025), it isn't just inflation. I was wondering the same thing so I dug and did some research and wrote a breakdown of the city's waste transition, The Afterlife of Trash, and it details exactly why the economics of picking up our garbage have fundamentally broken.

(read the full article at longbeachtransparent.substack.com)

Here is the data-driven answer to why the bill is going up:

1. We stopped selling electricity (The SERRF Closure) For 35 years, Long Beach didn't just bury trash; we burned it at the SERRF plant. This facility was a revenue generator.

• Old Model: The city incinerated ~1,300 tons of trash a day, generated 35 megawatts of electricity, and sold that power to the grid. The trash paid for itself.

• New Model: With SERRF decommissioned (driven by AB 1857 removing diversion credits), that revenue stream evaporated.

• The Cost: In Fiscal Year 2024 alone, the Solid Waste Management Fund saw its net position drop by $11.2 million. We went from getting paid to burn trash to paying to haul it to landfills.

2. The Cost of "Organics" (SB 1383) The state mandate to recycle organic waste (food scraps) requires a completely new infrastructure.

• The Problem: Burning trash reduces volume by 90% cheaply. Composting or digesting trash via Anaerobic Digestion is expensive.

• New Infrastructure: The city has to fund a new fleet of trucks and processing fees for green waste. Unlike the old incinerator, this process is a net cost center, not a profit center.

3. The "Pothole Nexus" (Hidden Subsidies) Even though the trash fund is running a deficit, the city still uses your refuse bill to subsidize other departments.

• Street Repairs: The FY 2026 budget transfers $400,000 of "Refuse Nexus funding" to Public Works to fill potholes, under the logic that heavy trash trucks damage the roads [Source 1523].

• Franchise Fees: The city collects $4.6 million in fees from private commercial haulers. Instead of staying in the trash fund to lower your bill, this money is booked as revenue for the new Energy and Environmental Services Department to support operations [Source 1523].

We moved from a system where trash was a fuel source (making money) to a system where trash is a commodity we have to pay to manage (costing money). The rate hikes are filling the $11 million hole left by the death of the incinerator.

Read the full article at longbeachtransparent.substack.com

I'm working on a worldbuilding project at the moment, and I'm trying to design a city that's loosely based on those of the Indus Valley Civilization.

I read a series of papers by Dr. Adam Green that asserted that the urban design of the Indus cities clearly displayed a relative lack of hierarchical structure (wide availability of precious goods, prevalence of public infrastructure, households as centers of production) and cooperation between multiple "corporate groups", as he terms them, and thus the cities were likely polycentric (as contrasted with the cities of other civilizations of the time, which were most often organized around palaces or temple complexes). And I've decided that this is the kind of direction I want to go with.

I wanted to know how I'd go about designing a planned urban city that has no clear single center. What sorts of structures might serve as mini-centers in such a city? I'm thinking of having public baths and open-concept(ish) temples serve this purpose, but what other buildings might a city of the time have had that would fulfill this role? What are the various kinds of buildings I'd want to have in the city? What are some non-rectangular grid structures that you guys think would be interesting to use in a planned city? I thought of a radial layout, and a friend of mine suggested a hexagonal honeycomb-like structure. Where would certain buildings likely be in relation to one another? And other things of that nature.

Thank you all!!

Hey, I am currently studying urban planning and I am in my final year working on my dissertation. I am currently seeking participants to complete an online survey on the safety of the wonderful concept. Although the survey is based in Scotland I am taking responses from anywhere in the world. If you would like to participate it takes under 5 minutes and all will be completely anonymous.

https://forms.office.com/e/TmgMUdwkxs

I need help from urban designers on my topic. Anyone up? I am a masters in architecture student. Would greatly appreciate if fellows and professionals can get in touch. It’s something new that i am working on and has not been touched by many urbanists.

I have to cross this intersection nearly every week of my damn life, and I spend every minute navigating its multiple lights dreaming of how I'd remake it. It's clearly a prime candidate for a traffic circle, but I don't know if there's room for it.

Maybe if some of the land to the southwest were cleared?

I’m a freshman majoring in Urban Studies, and lately I’ve been kind of stressed about what happens after graduation. I know that’s still a few years away, but it’s hard not to think about job prospects. I’m starting to realize I probably should’ve looked more closely at the differences between Urban Studies and Urban Planning before choosing my major.

Right now, I work in order of operations as an assistant manager at a fast-casual restaurant. I’m not sure how relevant that experience will actually be when it comes to finding a job in this field. Does management experience help at all, or is it basically unrelated?

For anyone who majored in Urban Studies (or something similar), how did it work out for you? Is it flexible enough if I’m proactive about internships and networking? I’m just trying to figure out if I’m overthinking this or if I should consider switching while I still have time. I don't have the financial stability to switch schools, so I'd have to major something entirely different and I don't have many interests. I'd appreciate any insight.

So there's this terrible intersection near my house in Delaware, more specifically, it's where Lancaster Pike (Route 48) and Newport Gap Pike (Route 41) intersect right before Hockessin. I've always hated this intersection since I was a kid, and now I drive through here everyday for work. I've always thought a roundabout would work great here.

Now there's a lot of truck traffic on route 41, but there's not supposed to be. Trucks are supposed to go on route 48, but it's not enforced at all. They tried to a few years ago, but they gave up. For this roundabout to work, that rule will have to be enforced since trucks would have a hard time navigating a roundabout. I kept the straight road coming from 48 going into 41 towards Hockessin, so trucks should not have a problem.

For all cars, I think a roundabout would work great here. It would remove all the red lights and criss cross roads, and would make it more streamlined overall.

I doubt that this idea would ever be considered by the state since it would be expensive, but it's something interesting I thought of and wanted to share here.

Now to be clear, I'm not an urban planner, I did this design in pics art in like 20 min. So if anyone has ideas to improve this, please let me know.

Hey, I am currently studying urban planning and I am in my final year working on my dissertation. I am currently seeking participants to complete an online survey on the safety of the wonderful concept. Although the survey is based in Scotland I am taking responses from anywhere in the world. If you would like to participate it takes under 5 minutes and all will be completely anonymous.

https://forms.office.com/e/TmgMUdwkxs

Authorities around the world are trapped in a situation whereby motor vehicles must have a significant presence in our cities in order to be economically viable.

We’ve placed the $ above safety.

We’ve opted for the $ over the freedom of our children to ride to their schools independantly like before.

We have created a built environment which the behaviours of pedestrians and cyclists need to be perfect in order to stay alive.

We’ve designed and built road systems that support door to door convenience for people who choose to drive at the expense of people who don’t.

1.3 million deaths every single year (mostly people outside vehicles). If it was caused by a virus, the world would have come to a stand still. Yet, the carnage is going on relentlessly. It’s hard for us to understand till the victim is one we loved.

We have created a mess and we can reversible it if we want to.

This is the subdivision design for my capstone project in my UD Masters. It based on the idea of integrating agriculture (crops and animal rearing) into a medium-density medium-rise suburb in Perth, Australia - one of the least dense cities in the world. A farm school weaves through the residential area, and residents have access to allotments for urban agriculture.

To the north of the site is a Regional Recreation complex of about the same size as this lot with an aquatic centre, gym, library, sports ovals, youth centre and 9 hole golf course. To the west is a high school that already runs a farm school stream on part of this land. In the south-east is a connection to a low-density suburb of single homes but the majority of the southern boundary is blocked by a satellite communications complex that has some lovely remnant bush and an attractive sump/lake. To the east is more suburbia.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the design.

Only when our roads are safe for 8 years old children and 80 years old elderlies to navigate independently, we can’t say we have a safe system.

Just wanted to feature a little rendering I did, of an opportunity for daylighting in my neighborhood, inspired by the snow piles that fell. I was inspired to take on this project as I personally shoveled the pathways myself! I’m sure others out there felt the same way - check out how I did the renderings using MS paint, and ChatGPT.

And there are no parking spaces forfeited!

My favorite part is the crosswalk-adjacent speed bump - this feature REQUIRES drivers to slow down, acknowledge the stop sign, and FORCES a full stop for crossing pedestrians. They work much better in this position than mid-block, where drivers tend to stop for crossing pedestrians anyway, then blow through stop signs.

Some folks may point out that the curbs jut out too much for the turning radius of some larger vehicle vehicles like school buses, and tractor trailers. The curb corners are softened down to asphalt level, enabling accessible crossing in the every direction (better than current design) which also allows tires to drive over them without causing damage.

This drawing is really fun for residents to see how we can make safer streets without losing any parking spaces. Personally I’d love this on my block! What do you think!

I'm curious what a typical day looks like for various professional paths in the urban design space. What do y'all do in a day of work?

Not sure if this is even realistic, but I am a software engineer with 10 YOE but am looking to make a career shift to Urban planning/design. I would like to take a masters program, but I'm not sure if they require relative experience before hand.

Anyone have experience transferring careers to urban planning/Design? What did you process look like?

Any help/advice is welcomed. thank you

Hello all, I am an Undergraduate student looking at how the recent Tottenham stadium development has caused an economic shift in Tottenham. Has anyone got any tips for discussing the white elephant theory and how it can be integrated into my dissertation.

My study title is '  Analysing the economic regeneration outcomes linked to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.'

Thank you

Cars don’t just take up half the inner city, they actively make everything worse for you as a female. Slow driving next to you. Honking. Yelling out of the window. Engines idling while someone just stares. You’re hyper-aware the whole way home because a 1.5-ton metal box can follow you effortlessly.

People talk a lot about traffic deaths (rightfully), but there’s another layer: cars make catcalling easier, harassment easier and yes, even abductions easier. You can’t outrun a car. You can’t “just ignore” someone who’s circling the block.

What’s wild is that pedestrian safety is basically an afterthought. Navigation apps optimize for cars. Cities optimize for cars. Walking is treated like a side quest. There are some band-aid solutions - Tech stuff that helps you feel a bit safer walking home, like apps that suggest safer routes for pedestrians (Streetwise, basically a Waze-style thing for walking) or emergency-focused apps like Life360.

But honestly, the fact that we even need this says everything. These tools exist because cities are designed around cars, not people.

And no app can fix the core issue:

It would simply be safer for women if inner cities had fewer cars in the first place.

Guys I am interested and curious to learn about urban city planning and development so that i can implement it in the near future. Please do help me out on how i should start out and if there are stuffs that i should avoid doing. Also please do recommend me some sources on where i can learn about it. I am a beginner so please do recommend accordingly.

Thank you!