News
L.A. Transit: Up a Hill and Out to the Sea
The historic Angel's Flight funicular reopened yesterday, as Mayor Villaraigosa announces his vision to transform Los Angeles' transit system in 10 years.
True/Slant
Density Uber Alles
Is density a goal unto itself? John Parman argues that a 38-story building proposed for San Francisco has little to do with walkable urbanism, and continues "a sorry tradition of case-by-case rezoning."
The Architect's Newspaper
'Sea-Change' Coming To Transportation Planning
That's what Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood wrote in his blog after attending the the League of Bicyclist's 10th Anniversary Summit, March 9-11 in D.C. And he means it - as reflected in the DOT's Policy Statement on bike and ped accomodations.
League of American Bicyclists
The High Costs of America's Aging Water Infrastructure
As part of its extensive coverage of water issues in the U.S., The New York Times looks at the aging water systems that plague American cities and what it would cost to fix them.
The New York Times
Building Demolished Without Review Was in Gap Between Protected Districts
The City of Cleveland has designated design review districts that require a hearing before demolishing potentially significant buildings. The Chester Conference Center, and most of the Cleveland Clinic campus, lie in-between protected districts.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer
Remixing Architecture, Without Breaking the Rules
Architecture critic Inga Saffron takes a look at what she thinks is "the most innovative take on the traditional rowhouse that Philadelphia has seen in years." Saffron remarks on how the building obeys the rules and innovates at the same time.
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Woonerfs Are Coming
"Woonerf" is a Dutch word for streets that mix cars and people, but with pedestrians as the dominant mode. Toronto planners are using the concept in their plans for the West Don Lands neighborhood.
The Toronto Star
TIGER Grants May Take Transit Off Endangered List
Less money for highways, more for transit and "complete streets" - New Urban News takes a look at where the $1.5 billion TIGER grants are going.
New Urban News
Strip Malls Lose Customers During Special Events, Heavy Traffic
Houston Rodeo is actually hurting some businesses around Reliant Center.
KUHF Houston Public Radio
High Speed Rail from London to Scotland Planned
Take a virtual (5-minute) trip on the 250 mph proposed train from London to Glasgow. All political parties agree on the need for what Secretary of State, Andrew Adonis, terms '21st century transport revolution', but the routing is less certain.
BBC News
"Real Simple" Cities That Save Time
Real Simple magazine offers its survey of America's top "time saving" cities, or those that make getting around and getting things done as easy (and green) as possible.
Real Simple
Green Features Aren't Selling Houses
Green housing features like solar roofs and angled walls add cost to a development, and lenders don't see added value. So as CNN reports, green housing currently faces a stiff market.
CNN Money
Ghetto-ization: Avoiding the Pitfalls of Density
At first glance, the historic Ghetto streetscene in Venice is an appealing new urbanist community. In another place at another time, the virtues of compact, walkable and dense were the very isolation we now abhor.
myurbanist
Is GDP A Good Indicator of Well-Being?
The Indian state of Kerala has earned an international reputation for its outstanding achievements in social planning. While its GDP typical for India, its social indicators rival many developed countries.
The Globe and Mail
Redevelopment Agencies Circle the Wagons, Fight for Funding
Redevelopment agencies, lead by the CRA, are planning their strategy for how to keep their local redevelopment funding from the state. CP&DR blogs and tweets from the California Redevelopment Association conference.
California Planning & Development Report
The Town That Lives Online Only
Elgin Park is a small city that doesn't exist. But online, through a series of photographs created from tiny models in the house of one Massachusetts man, the time-frozen industrial town of the mid-'60s has come to life.
The New York Times
How Prisoners Skew the Census
At Census time, America's prisoners have typically been counted as residents of the places they are imprisoned. But with nearly 1% of the U.S. population behind bars, where they're counted is counting more to the urban areas they came from.
Citiwire
Charting Public Data Via Google
Google has launched a new experimental effort to visualize much of the public data it now searches and displays.
Los Angeles Times
Three High Speed Rail Lines Announced in UK
The three new high speed rail lines are being called the biggest advancement of the United Kingdom's public transit system in more than 50 years.
The Mirror
South African World Cup Stadium Costs Highlight Neighboring Poverty
The costs of a new stadium built for this year's World Cup in Nelspruit, South Africa have heightened tensions between the city's poor and its leading officials.
The New York Times





















