Government / Politics
Using 'Urban Acupuncture' To Begin Healing Cities
By focusing on certain "pressure points" in urban areas, a city can dramatically increase its quality of life, argues Jaime Lerner, the former mayor of Curitiba, Brazil.
Three New Jersey Toll Roads For Lease – Perhaps
Leasing the New Jersey Turnpike, Garden State Parkway, and Atlantic Expressway to private companies may bring a payment equal to the state’s debt of $30 billion, but the political repercussions for Governor John Corzine could be severe.
New Jersey Affordable Housing Plan Denied
An affordable housing plan for New Jersey has been thrown out by an appeals court, arguing that the plan was based on flawed data and did not accurately predict the demand for housing. The plan has been called discriminatory by housing advocates.
Tenants Challenge Deregulation Of 3,000 Apartments Sold In Manhattan
In October, Planetizen reported on the "largest real estate deal in US history". Profits of the $5.4 billion sale in NYC could be reduced by 6%, or $324 million, if tenants win their suit that 25% of the 12,232 apartments were illegally deregulated.
River Port Should Be Shared Asset
This editorial calls on public officials in South Carolina and Georgia to work together to build a river port that will benefit them both.
Outrage Over Pittsburgh Transit Agency Implosion
The city's Port Authority has proposed cutting 25 percent of its bus and rail service and hiking fares by 75 cents to plug an $80 million budget deficit.
Out-Of-Touch Planning Blamed For High Home Prices In Australia
Planning and land use regulations are being blamed for Australia's high home prices, and also for the fact that four of its major cities are in a list of the 25 most unaffordable cities. Some feel planners are not planning with the people in mind.
Will Scotland's First New Urbanist Town Be Built?
Despite support for the plan and the amenities it provides for Inverness, some fear that Andres Duany's planned town of Tornagrain is not needed.
City Hall Is Best Left In The Center Of The City
Mayor Tom Menino's proposal to move Boston City Hall to the south waterfront ignores the importance of the building's location, and the recent developments in downtown.
Columnist Lampoons LA's Deputy Mayor for Transportation on His Hummer
Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez takes the city's Deputy Mayor for Transportation to task for driving a Hummer. 'It's smaller than a Yukon.'
Chef Burns U.S. Farm Bill
A New York chef lays in on the policy failures, lost local economies, damaged environments, and the bland food that have resulted from the U.S. Farm Bill, which will have its every-half-decade facelift in Congress this year.
Austin Tries A Waterfront High Rise (Again)
In a rerun of a failed 1999 plan to build a high-rise near the city's Town Lake, officials in Austin, Texas, are looking to increase downtown density. The City is hoping this try works, but the original plan's opponents are still opposed.
Town-Gown Showdown
The City of Santa Cruz and its University of California campus are struggling to come to terms with the university’s ambitious plans for growth and its impact on the city.
Growth Means More Seats In House For Texas
According to Census data and growth projections, Texas appears to be on track to gain between two and four seats in the U.S. House of Representatives when the seats are reallocated in 2010. The rise in population will also increase federal funding.
Labor Unions And Republican Conservationists Join Forces To Protect Wildlife Habitat
An unlikely group of Republicans and Democrats, the Union Sportsman's Alliance, will be formed on Jan. 23 to protect lands in the Rocky Mountain West for hunting and fishing that are largely threatened because of energy exploration.
Supreme Court Declines Hearing Of Eminent Domain Case
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a New York property owner's case against his city for its use of eminent domain to acquire his land for the development of a drugstore. The owner claimed that a drugstore was not a true 'public use'.
Escaping A Disaster Without A Car
Drawing on lessons from Hurricane Katrina, disaster experts and government officials are gathering in New Orleans to discuss how to develop emergency plans for those who can't or don't drive.
Kansas City May Foot Bill To Attract Pro Team
Despite a long-held promise of not spending any city money to attract a tenant to Kansas City's now-vacant sports arena, the city may be willing to pay millions to build a practice facility in an effort to woo a pro hockey or basketball team.
Austin Grapples With Downtown Height Limits
Developers in the city's booming downtown are pushing to change the rules originally enacted to preserve view corridors to the Texas State Capitol Dome.
The Planning Process' Built-In Problems
This editorial from the San Francisco Examiner discusses why the planning system is not public-friendly, and by reducing public hearing and reporting requirements, the process will be less intimidating to the public.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
Greater Baltimore Committee
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
