The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Though Seattle's giant tunneling machine remains stuck 60 feet under South Main Street, muck is starting to be flung above the surface. An email from Washington's Transportation Secretary reveals concerns over the conduct of the machine's operators.

January 21 - The Seattle Times

With occupancy rates rising faster in urban than suburban locations, some suburbs are remaking themselves into mixed-use communities with hi-rise office and residential towers; Tysons Corner, Va. and Research Triangle Park, N.C. among them.

January 21 - The Wall Street Journal - U.S.

Ernest Hemingway wrote in A Farewell to Arms that “only the names of places had dignity.” Has a history of cookie cutter, master-planned development robbed our places of value?

January 21 - MinnPost

With debts in excess of $30 million owed to the city of Montreal, and unhappy customers in New York City and Chicago refusing to pay for outstanding bills, the Bixi bike-share company has been forced to file for bankruptcy protection.

January 21 - The Montreal Gazette

Auburn University's Rural Studio program and other designers from across the U.S. have descended on Hale County, Alabama for two decades in an effort to improve the quality of life for the rural area's residents. What have they achieved?

January 20 - Fast Company

The B-Cycle bike share program in Kansas City is using a crowdfunding platform to generate funds for capital investments after an underwhelming attempt to generate funds for operations.

January 20 - Next American City

By analyzing four public spaces using William H. Whyte's groundbreaking techniques for studying street life, a team of researchers led by Keith Hampton reached some surprising conclusions about how technology is changing our social interactions.

January 20 - The New York Times

A new biological opinion sets policy for the Federal Columbia River Power System until 2018. Critics say the new plan continues the unsuccessful status quo of habitat restoration—instead they want to spill water over four dams on the Snake River.

January 20 - Associated Press via The Oregonian

BLOG POST

Besides wasting billions of taxpayer dollars, road-building may actually be holding back economic growth overall.

January 20 - Shane Phillips

Comcast recently released designs for a $1.2 billion skyscraper in Downtown Philadelphia. The building’s potential starkly contrasts the suburban model of commercial office parks.

January 20 - Philadelphia Inquirer

In his latest film, “Her,” Spike Jonze presents a one-of-a-kind vision of L.A.'s future.

January 20 - Los Angeles Times

BLOG POST

Seems like an absurd pairing, right? Perhaps so but please hear me out.

January 20 - Norman Wright

PBS' Hari Sreenivasan and guests share impressions of the North American Auto Show held in Detroit last week. Trucks and luxury cars were the focus, not electric and super-efficient vehicles. Debate on fuel efficiency standards is predicted in 2017.

January 20 - PBS NewsHour

Though cities like Los Angeles have established moratoriums on the construction of new fast food residents in an effort to tackle obesity, a new study questions the importance of place-based causes and solutions.

January 20 - Los Angeles Times

BLOG POST

Last week, the Transportation Research Board held its annual conference with < 10,000 people in attendance. We analyzed the tweets to generate a list of the hottest topics, links to transportation resources, and most influential people.

January 20 - Jennifer Evans-Cowley

U.S. DOT brokered a deal with energy and rail industries whereby both would take immediate steps to prevent the recent explosions involving the more volatile Bakken crude. While voluntary, actual regulations will take more than a year to approve.

January 20 - The Wall Street Journal

Across the U.S., hundreds of streets are named in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Unfortunately, many reflect the poverty and segregation that King fought to reverse. A non-profit is trying to transform them into sources of pride and inspiration.

January 20 - The Washington Post

The Transportation Planner posts about an inexplicable crosswalk at a highway interchange located in McLean, VA, a suburb of Washington, DC.

January 19 - The Transportation Planner

Traffic engineers in the Los Angeles Department of Transportation are finalizing plans for a roundabout in the neighborhood of Boyle Heights at a notorious intersection known as Cinco Puntos.

January 19 - The Eastsider LA

Foreclosures, the defining signifier of the Great Recession for many Americans, are coming to a screeching halt in Colorado. In fact, the state’s foreclosure rate improved at about twice the national average between 2012 and 2013.

January 19 - Denver Post