Civic Plan Studio

08/29/2025

Thanks to APA-KY for organizing a great state conference. I was fortunate to deliver two presentations on commercial corridor transformations and walkable/bikeable neighborhoods. Best of all, I met some great people!

11/10/2021

Many urban designers say that the ideal height to width ratio for an urban street is 1:1. We found this street in the upper west side of Manhattan to be very comfortable. It appears to be about 1:1.3 (although at the time it felt more like 1:1). We'd like to see more cities use similar ratios to establish height limits on buildings.

09/16/2021

Our model showing the main components of an urban sidewalk. We prefer the term Flex Zone because this area can also be used for parallel parking and drop off zones (while still keeping the street trees). The width of the Encroachment Zone can vary to accommodate different uses. A retail use may have a very shallow Encroachment Zone while a cafe/restaurant may opt for a deeper setback to accommodate cafe seating.

02/16/2021

Article by Civic Plan Studio's Michael Huston urging architects to consider the environmental impact of their design decisions.

Needless intricacies in building designs waste natural resources. Architects must do better.

02/01/2021

It heartened me to see so many people out on bikes in downtown St. Pete this past weekend! It was almost, dare I say, a bike traffic jamb!

01/11/2021

Europe is kicking our U.S. butt when it comes to visionary planning!

the mayor of paris, anne hidalgo, has announced a €250 million plan to revamp one of the city’s most famous landmarks — the champs-élysées. often referred as the most beautiful avenue in the world, the 1.9km (1.2mile) long avenue will be transformed into an ‘extraordinary garden’, offeri...

01/07/2021

Michael Huston of Civic Plan Studio writes about the potential for micromobility in St. Petersburg. Will it work in your city?

Love them or hate them, the scooters have arrived in downtown St. Pete! While it may be too early to say whether this new form of shared transportation is an amenity or a nuisance, they represent only one example of an emerging form of transportation known as micromobility . Cities around the world

12/12/2020

This article is illustrated by beautiful photos of city life!

You can tell a great city by its corners. If If the intersection is owned by the vehicles, it is a city for cars and traffic. If the community controls the intersections/corners, it is a city of neighborhoods.

12/07/2020

https://transfersmagazine.org/magazine-article/how-developers-respond-to-parking-reform/?mc_cid=226327184d&mc_eid=5983f4a60f

Parking reforms in Seattle led developers to provide significantly less parking supply, leaving more space for the city to build housing and other needs.

11/30/2020

Finally posting Part 2 of our presentation for Car-Free St Pete! Ways to make our city even more beautiful!

In this video, we discuss the importance of the private realm of the city, that is, the private buildings that line the streets and add, or subtract, from th...