United States

Troubled Landmarks Rule in Chicago Could Upset Preservation Across U.S.

Chicago's historic landmarks ordinance is being challenged in the courts and is expected to be ruled unconstitutional. Blair Kamin discusses the impact the rule change could have on historic preservation in Chicago and beyond.

June 7, 2009 - Chicago Tribune

Eliminate Child Safety Program to Cut Budget?

House Republicans sent President Obama a $375 billion budget-cutting plan, which slices $1 billion from bicycle and pedestrian programs.

June 6, 2009 - STREETSBLOG.ORG

Going Green With Brown and Yellow

Planetizen's Nate Berg reports on the latest trend in waste management: 'living machines' that treat human sewage in-house using plants.

June 5, 2009 - Wired

President Obama's Aiming for U.S.-China Deal

The Obama administration is making a U.S.-China deal on climate change a centerpiece, according to The Guardian (UK).

June 5, 2009 - THE DIRT

Suburbs 2.0

A review of Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburbs by Ellen Dunham-Jones and June Williamson, from Residential Architect Online.

June 4, 2009 - Residential Architect Online

Americans Love Their Cars, But Are They Willing to Share?

Car industry analysts try to assess the future of the market - will Zipcar and public transit change car ownership forever?

June 4, 2009 - The New York Times

Highway Trust Fund - Near Broke, Again

Back in September, we reported that the trust fund had to receive an $8 billion bailout. Reuters reports that a second bailout is required to prevent the fund from going broke by August. Sen. Boxer indicates she supports indexing the gas tax.

June 4, 2009 - Reuters

Congestion Pricing And Equity

Is congestion pricing unfair to poor people? Rand has released an Environmental Defense Fund-sponsored report, "Equity and Congestion Pricing" that attempts to answer this question and report on other equity-related aspects of congestion pricing.

June 3, 2009 - Environmental Defense Fund - Press Release

Increase Funding or Raise Taxes?

Transit advocates may be louder than highway backers for the first time in discussions about the next authorization bill, but highway supporters warn less highway funding means less gasoline taxes.

June 3, 2009 - Congressional Quarterly Today

Taking On O'Toole

Ryan Avent at Streetsblog calls Randal O'Toole's anti-transit arguments "transparently foolish."

June 3, 2009 - Streetsblog

Census in a Fortune Cookie?

The U.S. Census Bureau is putting marketing messages in soaps and fortune cookies in foreign languages in an attempt to improve the number of participants.

June 3, 2009 - USA Today

Buy Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water for $100

LEGO and the Wright Foundation have launched two new sets to honor the architect's centennial.

June 3, 2009 - The Architect's Newspaper

Win $50,000 by Solving Congestion

A new contest challenges planning professionals and ordinary people to submit their solutions for improving congestion in the United States.

June 2, 2009 - SF.STREETSBLOG.org

Making Cities Net Producers of Energy

Professor David Godschalk, City and Regional Planning, University of North Carolina -Chapel Hill, discussed the need to initiate 'positive development' strategies in cities during a National Building Museum symposium.

June 2, 2009 - THE DIRT

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.

June 1, 2009 - The New York Times - Sunday Book Review

Moore Says, Save GM by Killing GM

Michael Moore marks the GM bankruptcy by calling for the preservation of its industrial infrastructure in order to build sustainable transportation systems.

June 1, 2009 - michaelmoore.com

Transit Stops Increase Property Value- But Why?

Sam Staley argues that the increase in property values around transit stations isn't attributable to increased ridership, and in fact the locations with the least investment had the highest ridership.

June 1, 2009 - The Business Journal (Fresno)

What About the Uncreative Class?

Columnist Josh Leon agrees with Richard Florida's assessment that greater mobility would be better for the economy and the creative class, but wonders what will happen to the immobile and un-creative.

June 1, 2009 - Next American City

LaHood To Learn From Spain On HSR

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood is visiting Spain, hoping to glean some knowledge from the country's recent successes with high-speed rail.

June 1, 2009 - The New York Time - Energy & Environment

Best Cities for Jobs

Kiplinger's picks its 2009 Best Cities list, and in this tough economy decides to put the emphasis on job creation and stability. Number one? Huntsville, Alabama.

June 1, 2009 - Kiplinger's

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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.