Exclusives

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<p> &nbsp; </p> <p> In 1979, the City of San Diego launched a plan to steer new development into the craftsman-lined neighborhoods close to downtown.   The idea was sound:  scatter higher density housing throughout existing smart growth communities. 

August 25 - Diana DeRubertis

FEATURE

August 24 - Fanis Grammenos

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<p> The recently released report, <a href="http://www.movingcooler.info/">Moving Cooler: Transportation Strategies to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions</a>, which recommends various VMT reduction strategies (also called mobility management, transportation demand management, TDM), has <a href="/node/39945">raised debate concerning the best way to reduce climate change emissions</a>. Critics argue that that reducing vehicle travel is difficult and costly to consumers and the economy, and instead support strategies that change vehicle design (increased energy efficiency and alternative fuels).

August 20 - Todd Litman

FEATURE

Julia Galef reviews <em>Urban Design for an Urban Century: Placemaking for People</em> by Lance Jay Brown, David Dixon, and Oliver Gillham.

August 20 - Julia Galef

BLOG POST

<p> A few years ago, someone asked me the following question (loosely paraphrased) on a listserv: “Since the most tradition-minded* religious Jews are required by Jewish law to walk to synagogue on Sabbaths and holy days (and thus presumably prize walkability) why aren’t they a major market for new urbanist developments?” At the time, I didn’t have a coherent answer. But now that I know more about both traditional Jews and new urbanism, I do. </p>

August 17 - Michael Lewyn

FEATURE

August 17 - Nate Berg

BLOG POST

<p> <img src="http://postcarbon.org/files/highrise-turbines3_300h.jpg" alt="Wind turbines atop Portland high-rise." hspace="5" vspace="5" align="right" />When we moved the <a href="http://www.postcarboncities.net">Post Carbon Cities</a> office to downtown Portland I was thrilled to get a bird&#39;s-eye view of the downtown streetcar, the first new streetcar line built in the US since World War II. This morning I got a new history-making treat out my window: <a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2009/08/innovative_wind_turbines_to_to.html">four wind turbines</a> mounted yesterday on a new high-rise, among the first such urban wind projects in the country. </p>

August 14 - Daniel Lerch

FEATURE

Zoning is often portrayed as the great evil of city planning, but Les Pollock of Camiros argues that we shouldn't dismiss the power of zoning to create great communities.

August 13 - Leslie S. Pollock, FAICP

BLOG POST

<p> <span style="color: #4f4f4f; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','sans-serif'"><span style="font-size: small">For serious transportation policy wonks lately every day is like Christmas.<span>  </span>Climate change, bailout, deteriorating infrastructure, reauthorization, aging baby boomers, bailout, stimulus, new administration, economic development, global competition, urban redevelopment, bailout, etc.<span>  </span>One has all they can do to just keep up with all the relevant news and positioning say nothing of understanding it.<span>  </span>In fact, I don’t understand it.<span>  </span></span></span><span style="color: #4f4f4f; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','sans-serif'"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></span><span style="color: #4f4f4f; font-family: 'Lucida San

August 12 - Steven Polzin

BLOG POST

<span style="font-size: x-small"> <p> I&#39;m sure much will be written on the observations and learning&#39;s from the 2010 Vancouver-Whistler Winter Olympics and Paralympics process - at least once all those working tirelessly on it have had some time to catch our breath after next year&#39;s monumental event. As you can imagine, we&#39;re already inundated with visitors, questions and critiques, and we still have months to go and much hard work to do. </p>

August 12 - Brent Toderian

BLOG POST

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify" class="MsoNormal"> <span><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Swis721 Cn BT"><strong>Every real estate developer and urban planner knows that Portland, Oregon rocks.</strong></span></span></span> </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify" class="MsoNormal"> <span><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Swis721 Cn BT">It is probably our best civic example in the United States of defining a comprehensive growth strategy for its citizens and staying true to the vision.<span>  </span>The result is an authentic, creative, smart, home grown, artsy, sustainable, eco-friendly, colorful, self sufficient, vibrant, athletic, outdoorsy, walking, biking, multi-generational and experimental lifestyle downtown community where buildings, transit, waterfront festivals, park blocks, fountains, theaters, bookstores, galleries, music, crafts, food, wine, beer, coffee and people all blend together perfectly.<span>  </span>It really works here. But one thing was never done properly and needs to be changed to capture this spirit – the name of the city.</span></span></span><span><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Swis721 Cn BT"> </span></span> </p>

August 11 - Rick Abelson

BLOG POST

<p> A couple of weeks ago, the South Dakota Supreme Court in <em>Anderson</em><em> v. Town of Badger</em> held that a town had the power to grant a waiver of a distance requirement set by Kingsbury County for a CAFO. <a href="http://www.sdjudicial.com/opinions/downloads/y2009/25045.pdf">Click here </a>for the decision. </p> <p> Wait a minute. Why wouldn’t you want to live near a CAFO? What’s a CAFO? It’s not Community Association Facility Operations. It’s not Centralized Area of Fun Outside …no, it’s Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, something akin to dinner time at my fraternity house in the mid-1960s… </p>

August 11 - Dwight Merriam

BLOG POST

<span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman"> </span> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman">Some commentators think that Internet technology will liberate us from the constraints of place; for example, one amazon.com book review of Joel Kotkin’s <em>The New Geography</em> states “Because today&#39;s connected workers can live anywhere they want, they will live anywhere they want.”<span>  </span>Kotkin himself is a little more circumspect, but writes: “Telecommunication allows people who want privacy, low-density neighborhoods and good schools to live in small towns in a way never before possible.”(1)<span>  </span>There is a tiny amount of truth to this claim: the Internet does make it

August 10 - Michael Lewyn

FEATURE

August 10 - Amber Hawkes

BLOG POST

<p> Hundreds of activists, students, politicians, lawyers, developers, architects and planners swarmed Miami&#39;s City Hall on Thursday for the City Commission&#39;s first reading of <a href="/www.miami21.org">Miami 21</a>. By some estimates, nearly 80% of the the 100-plus testimonials were spoken in favor of  Miami 21, with Miami Mayor Manny Diaz kicking off the event with an 11-minute pro-Miami 21 paean. It was certainly one of the most eloquent, if not most passionate speech I have heard him deliver during his tenure. Strangely, Commissioner Angel Gonzalez was missing from the dais for what might have been the most important vote of the year. Apparently, the two week notice was delivered in time for him to reschedule surgery.

August 8 - Mike Lydon

BLOG POST

<!--StartFragment--><p class="MsoNormal">As a lifelong urbanite, I’ve always felt comfortable learning cities “by Braille.” I put on my walking shoes and wander, making mental maps as I go. I experience serendipity, yet can generally intuit where things are likely to be – the CBD, the government center, nightlife.</p><p class="MsoNormal">This summer our family spent time in Berlin, Venice, Florence, and Paris. Of the four, Paris was the only one I’d been to before. By the time we got there, it was like greeting an old friend.</p>

August 8 - Lisa Feldstein

FEATURE

Planetizen is creating a list of the most important people who have shaped urban places, and we want to know what you think. Vote on people nominated by the Planetizen community, or suggest your own. The polls close September 7.

August 6 - Planetizen

BLOG POST

<p> Urban planning is one of those things people don&#39;t realize they can relate to. Everybody understands cities, so why can&#39;t they understand how they are planned? Well, there&#39;s really no reason. Urban planners -- steeped in the inner workings of the urban world -- probably aren&#39;t the best to try to communicate this idea. So bring in the artists.<br /> <br />

August 5 - Nate Berg

BLOG POST

<p> Summer seems to be the season to demolish old schools. There’s nothing that makes people madder than when a neighborhood school is reduced to rubble. One Portland blogger <a href="http://chatterbox.typepad.com/portlandarchitecture/2009/07/an-architectural-tragedy-riverdale-has-been-destroyed.html" target="_blank">compared the wreckage of a 1920s school to Dresden</a>. People in Beaumont, Texas, took the local school district to court to save their 87-year-old high school, and those “Greenies” are fired up on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=92556003497&amp;ref=search" target="_blank">Facebook</a>.

August 3 - Margaret Foster

FEATURE

Builder Fernando Pagés Ruiz discovered by accident that the multicultural groups in his community had special needs that weren't being met.

August 3 - Fernando Pagés Ruiz