The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
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Manifesto for an Intercultural Urbanism
What are the philosophical and practical commitments of an approach to urban planning that respects cultural differences in ways of being and building?
House Overwhelmingly Passes Republican Highway Trust Fund Patch Bill
By a vote of 367-55, the House passed Rep. Dave Camp's "pension smoothing" bill to provide ten months of funding for the deficit-plagued Highway Trust Fund through May. A long-term (five- or six-year) funding plan will be attempted then.
Can a Parking Garage Village be Livable?
Students in Atlanta have designed a tiny house village inside a parking garage to help better understand how livable micro-housing projects can be.
Post-Car? Helsinki's Plans for a Tech-Enabled Mobility Network
Helsinki, capital of Finland's, is working to create a "mobility on demand" system that integrates shared and public transit in a single payment network. The idea is that with such a system in place, residents would no longer need cars.
Virginia Takes First Tentative Steps toward Climate Change Adaptation
A combination of environmental factors exposes Virginia’s coastal dwellers to some of the nation’s most severe climate change-related hazards, yet the state has almost zero plans for adaptation. Could that be about to change?
Proposed Pipeline Poses Dilemma for Keystone Pipeline-Supporting Governor
Iowa Governor Terry Branstad supports the Keystone XL Pipeline, as do most Republican leaders. Then again, it doesn't go through his state. Not so for the newly proposed Bakken Pipeline that cuts across the heart of Iowa. No word on his position yet.
California's New Emergency Drought Rules Require More Restrictions, Fines
Although some cities in California already have mandatory water restrictions in place, the State Water Resources Control Board adopted drought regulations this week that direct water agencies to ban wasteful practices.
State Lands Commission Sues to Overturn San Francisco's Prop B
Not so fast, San Francisco Prop B (the approved measure requiring voter approval for projects exceeding height limits along the waterfront). The State Lands Commission has a legal bone to pick.
Modernism-Hating Neighbor Sues to Halt Home Construction
Allison Arieff tells the sordid tale of a "modestly modernist" house in Oakwood, a historic district in Raleigh, North Carolina. Despite the fully permitted house being 85 percent complete, a lawsuit by a neighbor could force its demolition.
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Transit-Oriented Cities and Safety: Another Look
Transit-oriented cities are safer than car-dependent cities of comparable size, especially if one considers traffic fatalities in car-dependent cities.
Study Quantifies the Large Economic Cost of NIMBY Politics
A new study by economists Chang-Tai Hsieh and Enrico Moretti claims to have found the cost, in economic growth, incurred by the high price of housing in expensive coastal cities. Hint: the word trillion is involved.
Study: Inherent Flaws in Community Development Responses to Foreclosure Crisis
A new study by Laura Wolf-Powers at the University of Pennsylvania finds inherent conflict in the three varieties of response by community development practitioners to the foreclosure crisis.
The $20 Million Road for No One in Minnesota
A writer laments the lack of return on investment reflected by a state DOT's decision to fund a highway-widening project for $20 million that will serve 1,100 daily car trips.
Should Transit Systems Break from the Low Fare Orthodoxy?
A proposal for a radical reinvention of the fare structure for the country's transit systems—one that balances the cost of transit with that of driving, generates more revenue from fares, and enables more capital investments.
How Los Angeles’ Union Station Came to Be
Los Angeles County Planner Clement Lau reviews the "No Further West: The Story of Los Angeles Union Station" exhibit, on display at the Central Library.
Governors Blame Congress for Failure to Sustain Highway Trust Fund
Bipartisan governors faulted Congress for failing to find long-term funds for the Highway Trust Fund, but how do their state records match their rhetoric aimed at raising federal gas taxes? Planetizen looks at some of the governors cited in the WSJ.
Bill Would Require Affordable Housing in Sales of Public Land in Washington D.C.
"A DC Council committee voted…to require developers to include affordable housing any time they buy land from the city for residential development," reports Jenny Reed.
A History of Bi-Partisan Anti-Urbanism
Although recent studies and controversies such as Agenda 21 make anti-urban politics seem like a right wing commodity, a new book details the implications of a long history of bi-partisan anti-urbanism.
Economic Growth without the McMansions—Is America Ready?
Henry Grabar beckons the death of the McMansion, calling it an "American embarrassment" with no easy solution for planners.
An App that Calculates the Most Beautiful Route
New in flaneur-enabling technology: a team of intrepid aesthetes in Barcelona is working on a new app that would advance GPS mapping tools by providing the most beautiful route to a destination, rather than the shortest or least congested route.
New York City School Construction Authority
Village of Glen Ellyn
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
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.
