A few days ago, I was in a Chicago neighborhood called Lincoln Square, on Lincoln Avenue just south of Lawrence Avenue. Lincoln Avenue looks like many posh urban neighborhoods- narrow, walkable streets inhabited by gelato-eating, prosperous-looking people. Even on a weeknight, the shops and streets of Lincoln Square betrayed no evidence of a recession.*
Urban Development / Real Estate
San Juan to Ban Cars, Make "Walkable City"
The oldest city in the Americas bans cars from its colonial streets and outlines a plan to make San Juan more livable. David Soto gives us a look at this ambition plan.
Miami Approves 50-story Electronic Signs
The Miami City Commission has controversially approved a pair of 50-story electronic signs to be built atop a parking garage next to the City's Arsht Performing Arts Center.
Miami Herald
Canadian Urbanists weigh in on Census Controversy
Thu, 07/29/2010 - 12:46
Canadian city planners and urbanists have been active in the discussion and debate over the last few weeks, regarding the Federal government's decision to change the mandatory long form census to a voluntary approach. As un-sexy as the census might seem to many (I myself never thought I'd be writing a post about the census), the national media has been all over this, giving extensive coverage to the numerous experts and professional organizations who have been unanimously critical of this move, and the effects it will have on the planning and management of cities and communities.
China's Cities: All Show, No Substance?
Chinese urban sprawl has the potential to be transformed into urban sustainability.
TheCityFix
Underwater Homeowners Taking New Gambles on Real Estate
The Wall St. Journal reports that some homeowners are selling their underwater homes at a loss and turning right around and investing in new homes with lower mortgage rates and getting more house in the process.
The Wall St. Journal
San Francisco Pins Utopian Hopes on Treasure Island
San Francisco has always been home to utopian dreamers. With a clean slate to work on in the middle of the bay, the city has drafted plans for a sustainable utopia. With politics and money kicking in, will the dream be dashed?
Shareable
Cleveland Development Could Connect Food Wholesalers With Public
A proposed development on a vacant lot in ailing Cleveland could connect locals with a little-known asset of their community - a cluster of food wholesalers.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer
Unrealized Berlin
A new exhibit in Germany looks at a variety of unrealized and unbuilt plans for Berlin created by 100 different architects and planners.
Der Spiegel
Improving Suburbia Via A Contest
Can planners and architects build a better model of suburbia? Long Island Index thinks so, and has designed a contest to retrofit parts of asphalt laden suburban Long Island. Ideas are discussed in this NYT blog on design and architecture.
The New York Times - Opinion
The Civic Divide Between Quantity and Quality
Aaron M. Renn dissects the "Venus-Mars" split between the high quality and high quantity model and argues that "an hourglass America is not one most of us want to live in for the long term."
New Geography
Agricultural Urbanism in Illinois
This piece from Grist looks at Prairie Crossing, a planned community in Illinois that integrates agriculture into its village-like setting.
Grist
LA and New York in 2030
Newsweek picks the brains of architects to offer these visions of what the cities of New York and Los Angeles will look like in 2030.
Newsweek
Not Enough T in the DOT?
The federal government is paying more attention to the land use impacts of the transportation projects it's funding. Next American City's Yonah Freemark worries they may be paying too much attention.
Next American City
Huge New District Expands Hamburg's City Center
An ambitious new mixed use district is gradually opening along the Elbe River in Hamburg, Germany. The project is huge in scope, expanding the city center by nearly 40%, and not expected to finish for more than a decade.
The New York Times
City of Columbus Adopts Far-Reaching Downtown Plan
Building on the urban renaissance of the last decade that saw residential population increase for the first time since 1950, the City of Columbus has set a bold vision for the future with the adoption of the 2010 Downtown Columbus Strategic Plan.
The Columbus Dispatch
For Lack of a Better Term
Chuck Wolfe discusses the challenge of finding a more marketable term to encompass all of the prevailing theories of "transit-oriented development", "walkability", and "liveability." His suggestion? Urbandwidth.
myurbanist
Sustainable and Obtainable
A new sustainable housing development breaking ground in Oregon has put affordability on the same pedestal as sustainability.
The Oregonian
