The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

If you need a little misery-loves-company commiseration on winter, Hazel Borys shares some pics from Winnipeg, the coldest big city on earth. How this winter city deals with the polar vortex is something we may all need to get used to.

February 13 - PlaceShakers

Google buses, Google ferries, and now, a Google hangar.

February 13 - San Jose Mercury News

Still reeling from a major chemical spill on Jan. 9 that contaminated the drinking water supply for 300,000 residents, word comes of a significant coal slurry spill. Unlike the earlier spill, the water supply is said not to be threatened.

February 13 - The Charleston Gazette

A political battle over the Ozark National Scenic Riverways—the largest federal park in Missouri—is heating up. The debate pressures a crucial distinction: how much are protected open spaces for people, and how much are they for protecting.

February 13 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Should dying cities like Detroit get their own visa programs to attract skilled foreign workers? What about prosperous cities like New York and London?

February 13 - Future Cities

Say what you will about growing corn for fuel, and there are many criticisms even coming from the environmental community, corn ethanol has its benefits, and one of the most important is reducing oil's stranglehold on America's transportaton fuels.

February 13 - Inside Climate News

After months of back and forth, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and City Council President Darrell L. Clarke “reached an agreement that would allow the rehabilitation of John F. Kennedy Plaza and the sale of the garage beneath LOVE Park.”

February 12 - Philadelphia Inquirer - Philly.com

A recent news broadcast showed the mayor of Tacoma with a backdrop of the city of Seattle. The feeling of being hidden in the shadow of larger, older neighbor cities is familiar all over the world, but what are “kid sister” cities to do about it?

February 12 - New Geography

With jaywalking enforcement policies recently making news in New York City and Los Angeles, more of the media is pushing back on long-held assumptions about who rules the road. Here’s a primer on how jaywalking became a crime.

February 12 - BBC News Magazine

The Congress for the New Urbanism releases a Top 10 list highlighting the worst, most ready-to-be-junked urban freeways. New Orleans, Syracuse, and Detroit make the list. Boulevards are a viable and much-needed alternative, says CNU.

February 12 - Congress for the New Urbanism

The mayor of Aurora has lofty ambitions for a new “Main Street” along its forthcoming 10-mile light rail route, but will the market deliver, especially with the rise of real estate prices?

February 12 - The Denver Post

The eastern span of the Bay Bridge has had cost overruns, delays, scandal, and lukewarm architecture reviews, but the latest bad news is cause for concern—the bridge is leaking into structural elements and officials aren’t sure why or what it means.

February 12 - SF Gate

Realtor.com has conducted a survey on the characteristics and trends in that feeling familiar to many a house hunter—falling in love with the perfect house. Yes, a “home crush” is a thing.

February 12 - The Wall Street Journal

Tenant-owned apartment buildings are rare in the District of Columbia, but are a key tool in preserving affordable homes in our quickly growing city. Here, a look at two--and one group that helps make them happen.

February 12 - Elevation DC

This is not our first story on preserving a huge donut sign. What makes this one special is that it's as much about Long Beach as it is about preservation. And what makes it ironic is whom they had to fight to keep the donut from being torn down!

February 12 - The Atlantic Cities

FEATURE

The number of megacities is expected to double over the next decade, and many of these growing cities are far from resilient. The solution: frugal engineering and local knowledge.

February 12 - Kevin C. Desouza

BLOG POST

The world is changing, and so must we. Do we wait for external influences to force change, or can we lead our organizations to do better?

February 11 - Todd Litman

"Well-designed green schoolyards model the ecologically-rich cities we would like to inhabit. They do this at a smaller scale and teach the next generation how to live more lightly on the Earth—shaping places where urbanization and nature coexist."

February 11 - Children & Nature Network

The USA Today takes a closer look at data from the recent “Has Motorization in the U.S. Peaked?” report by Michael Sivak for the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.

February 11 - USA Today

A newly released series of animated GIFs provides a powerful visualization of how paltry even the most robust transit systems in the world look to those with special needs.

February 11 - Mappable