The growth in hybrid car sales is a welcome sign that a major change in the automobile industry is afoot. The shift to transport infrastructure that is not based on the archaic complexity of an internal combustion engine, with its hundreds of moving parts and compressed fuel explosions, has been long put off by an automobile industry, happy with status quo, partnered with oil cartels with the power to price their product as if it were in endless supply. But with smack-in-the-face-reality fuel prices last summer, the collapse of the so-called “Big Three” over the winter, and the simultaneous heralding assertion of alternative energy technologies (Daimler AG bought a 10% stake in Tesla Motors last month!), the fallout of western economic near-collapse has changed everything we’ve known to be sacrosanct; Leonard Lopate even waxed nostalgic about the “Death of the Car Song” yesterday on National Public Radio’s local station, WNYC.
Portland
Most Sustainable Cities in the U.S.
Grist brings us this list of the top 15 sustainable cities in the U.S.
Grist
Bike Sharing Plans Edge Forward in Portland
Officials in Portland are hoping to move forward on plans to bring a bike sharing system to the city. But with little money in the budget, implementing the system may take longer than expected.
The Oregonian
Bicycle Use Surpasses Car Use in Amsterdam
According to the latest numbers out of Amsterdam, residents are for the first time using bicycles for transport more often than they use their cars.
The Oregonian
The Pedaling Revolution
PEDALING REVOLUTION: How Cyclists Are Changing American Cities by Jeff Mapes, a political reporter for The Oregonian and long-time bike commuter in Portland, details how cycling and advocacy are changing America's urban landscape.
The New York Times - Sunday Book Review
PBS Doc Examines Development In Denver, Portland, and NYC
Three cities - three directions on how their transportation infrastructure was shaped by national transportation and housing legislation, and the role of influential leaders like CO Gov. Lamm, OR representative Earl Blumenauer, and NY's Robert Moses.
PBS
Trying to Save Portland's Historic Stadium
Growth in Portland's professional sports due to the expansion of Major League Soccer is threatening the life of the city's iconic Memorial Coliseum. Historians and preservationists are teaming up to save it.
The Architect's Newspaper
The Planetizen News Brief - 5/21/09
4:10 minutes (3.82 MB)
Phoenix goes bust to boom, creative cities have no jobs for creative youths, and two reports highlight the disaster risks of urbanization, all on this week's Planetizen News Brief, airing weekly on the nationally-syndicated radio show "Smart City". Read, listen or download.
The Battle Over Growth in Portland
A documentary focusing on Portland's urban growth boundary begins airing this month on public television stations across the country. It includes interviews with proponents on all sides of the smart growth issue.
PR Web
Flexibility and Integrity
Portland urban designer Arun Jain has released his Urban Design Framework, a vision that requires planners to give themselves more leeway "without giving up core values."
Daily Journal of Commerce
Portland Region Tries to Decide What to Develop, What to Preserve
Officials from three counties in the Portland region are trying to work together to decide where to locate regional urban reserves of land for future development and rural reserves for preservation.
Lake Oswego Review
Tent Cities As 'Informal Urbanism'
High Country News reports on Fresno's infamous Taco Flat in this 4-pager. Seattle's Nickelsville and Portland's Dignity Village are held up as better examples of squatter settlements. Architecture and 'informal urbanism' of tent cities is examined.
High Country News
The Next 30 Years of Portland Transit
Portland's Metro authority is mapping out the region's transit plans for the next 30 years, and the public is getting involved.
The Oregonian
Growth Estimates Predict 300,000 More Households in Portland Region by 2030
Population estimates mean that the Portland region will need about 300,000 additional homes by 2030. Where they should all go is up for debate.
The Oregonian
Krieger: Bike Registrations Improve Bike Safety
BikePortland.com editor Jonathan Maus interviews Rep. Wayne Krieger about his legislation requiring cyclists to register their bicycles.
BikePortland.org
Congestion Control Demanded for New 12-Lane Bridge
The mayors of Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington have come to an agreement about the size of a new bridge that will connect the two cities -- but on the condition that a bistate commission be set up to control congestion through tolling.
The Oregonian
A Crowded Future for the Pacific Northwest
Population growth estimates foresee the equivalent of an additional 15 Seattles concentrating in the Pacific Northwest over the next one hundred years. How the region handles this growth is up for debate, but with a distinct sense of urgency.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Subsidize Green Neighborhoods, Not Green Cars
DC writer Alec Dubro questions the pursuit of the green car, concluding we should cease its financial support. Though people may prefer the car culture, it would make more sense to pursue a ‘post car future’, citing Portland’s compact neighborhoods.
The Progressive
New Commuters Hit the Rails Today in Metro Portland
Portland's new Westside Express Service officially opens today, carrying passengers from Beaverton to Wilsonville. The Oregonian calls it, "a punch of hard-rolling rust-and-grease."
The Oregonian
Concerns Over Tolls and Sprawl May Determine Bridge Width
Plans for a new bridge over the Columbia River in Oregon have local officials in a debate over lanes, tolls and sprawl.
The Oregonian
Contribute
TECH-320: Advanced SketchUp Webinar
Advanced SketchUp Webinar
Wednesday, December 2, 11am PST/2pm EST
$49.95 (includes 30-day access to video recording)
Learn More:
TECH-320: Advanced SketchUp - Modeling Buildings
- Landscape Architecture and the Creation of Public Space
- Iraqi Civil Engineers Take Over Base Planning
- Brand-New Offramp Must Be Torn Down, Rebuilt
- Living in 100 Square Feet
- Chicago's Private Parking Meter Bungle
- Booming Burbs Stop Growing
- Making Goverment Data Sexy
- Banks Brace for Onslaught of "Zombie Buildings"
- Competing Technologies Within Hydrogen Car Community
- Promise Takes Root in Dallas' Newest Park
Learning from TTI -- Michael Lewyn
Automobility and Freedom: Conflicts and Resolutions -- Todd Litman
Somewhere Between Blight and Gentrification... -- Diana DeRubertis
The Future of American High Speed Rail: Regional and Slow -- Robert Goodspeed
Prisoners of The Village -- Nate Berg
Student Writing Competition - Deadline Extended!
APA Urban Design and Preservation Division
Nov 20, 2009
NEW NCI 2009 Best Practices Report
National Charrette Institute
Nov 19, 2009
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (DPH) Request for Proposals
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (DPH)
Nov 19, 2009
Build your expertise in sustainable planning, public participation, urban design or real estate
Rutgers University -- Professional Development Institute
Nov 18, 2009
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