The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Since at least the housing crash, government programs like the mortgage interest deduction that subsidize homeowners over the millions of Americans that rent their homes have come in for criticism. A proposed New York tax might address the imbalance.

January 8 - The Atlantic Cities

Crude oil may be flammable, but until recently was not thought to be explosive. However, three recent oil train explosions all involving crude oil from the Bakken formation have prodded investigators to determine why Bakken crude is more explosive.

January 8 - The Wall Street Journal - Business

Citi Bike's recent ridership is far from its autumn peak, but record cold has not prevented thousands of riders from using New York's popular bike-share system each day this month.

January 8 - WNYC: Transportation Nation

In cities like Houston, officials are utilizing established transmission right of ways (ROWs) to provide walking and biking trails without the land acquisition challenges that typically confront urban areas looking to expand their open spaces.

January 7 - American Trails

Chinese developer Greenland Group has purchased the sites of two proposed two high-rise developments in London for £1.2 billion. This is the first acquisition in Europe by Greenland Group, which is one of the largest developers in the world.

January 7 - Building.Co.Uk

With little outside oversight, Boston's powerful yet secretive Redevelopment Agency has squandered millions of dollars that were supposed to help build affordable housing by cutting deals with developers and allocating funds to other uses.

January 7 - The Boston Globe

New Haven has unveiled a first-of-its-kind card that's a combination gift certificate and prepaid credit card. By allowing users to shop, dine, and park throughout the city, officials see the card as a way to attract tourists and boost the economy.

January 7 - New Haven Independent

Despite steady increases in ridership since opening in 2007, a proposed expansion of the Lane Transit District’s EmX bus rapid transit system between Eugene and Springfield is meeting local resistance.

January 7 - The Register Guard

California's embattled high speed rail, which appears to be on life support following a Nov. court ruling, will receive funds from the state's carbon cap & trade program in Gov. Brown's budget to be released Friday. But will it make a difference?

January 7 - The Sacramento Bee - Capitol Alert

An upcoming report by the Association of Bay Area Governments projects the city of San Francisco to add a record-breaking number of residents by 2040. The SF Examiner is running a week-long series exploring the impacts of the expected growth.

January 7 - San Francisco Examiner

As Chicago's population surged in the second decade of the 20th century, one dominant single-family housing type spread across the city. Over the next year the Historic Chicago Bungalow Association will celebrate these distinctive homes.

January 7 - WBEZ

During the nightly blackouts designed to protect London from aerial attack during World War II, authorities used white paint as a cheap tool for making the city navigable in the darkness. Could London offer lessons for building resilient cities?

January 7 - Gizmodo

Outdated frameworks for participation and cutbacks in services have soured the relationship between citizens and their governments. A new study suggests policies and legislation for reviving meaningful public engagement in governance.

January 7 - Governing

BLOG POST

Garages matter a great deal to the design & enjoyment of our neighbourhoods, well beyond that garage door. Perhaps it’s finally time to reconsider whether having garages out front is really more important than the character of our neighbourhoods.

January 6 - Brent Toderian

For years, architects have promoted the possibilities of transforming shipping containers into housing. But design and functional challenges make that process difficult. With its shippable modular buildings, MEKA may have found a livable alternative.

January 6 - Treehugger

Jeff Rubins, a Canadian economist with a track record of predictions come to pass, warns that fast increasing rail shipments of crude oil are a ticking time bomb for the North American cities en-route such as Chicago and Toronto.

January 6 - Maclean's Magazine

With today's inauguration, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto is embarking on a "monumental shift in both style and substance in the mayor's office," reports Moriah Balingit. The biggest question facing the progressive mayor is where to begin.

January 6 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Yonah Freemark assembles his annual review of the year ahead in transit expansion by analyzing the dozens of projects that will start, continue, or complete construction this year in North America. Nearly every metro region is investing in transit.

January 6 - the transport politic

New municipal zoning laws don’t necessarily make for the most compelling reading material, but a new set of New York City regulations are worth paying attention to.

January 6 - Next City

BLOG POST

Biodiversity is not something “out there”, studied in labs, outside of our cities. It is a borderless organism that resists complete solutions to the problems arising in such interconnectivity.

January 6 - Steven Snell