The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

The U.S. House of Representatives has nearly unanimously passed a new bill! While that's news in itself, the bill facilitates infrastructure improvements (water-oriented in this case), an often divisive issue.

October 25 - Governing

FEATURE

Ever notice how competitors like Target and Walmart tend to cluster together? Ken Steif has, and through a close analysis of retail location trends in NY, NJ, and CT, he examines which businesses tend to agglomerate and why.

October 24 - Ken Steif

In a debate held on Tuesday, and in a subsequent radio interview, leading New York City mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio indicated he'd like to study whether to bring back automobiles to a stretch of Broadway that had been closed for pedestrians.

October 24 - WNYC: Transportation Nation

As the first segment of the new $2-3 billion freeway called I-69 linking Evansville and Indianapolis nears completion, Southwest Indiana leaders are already agitating to build the state's next "massive boondoggle," writes Aaron Renn.

October 24 - Urbanophile

A new report says the investments made in hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver were worth it. But could the area have gotten the same benefits without the Games?

October 24 - The Globe and Mail

As urban areas across the country compete for those coveted young professionals, "unhip" suburbs have a particularly tough challenge. In Montgomery County, MD, a taskforce has issued its recommendations for addressing this challenge.

October 24 - The Washington Post

A pair of articles in The New York Times look at two different kinds of waste generated from North Dakota's booming oil industry: natural gas from oil wells is burned due to the absence of pipelines, and the disposal of waste in landfills.

October 24 - The New York Times - Energy & Environment

The San Fernando Valley is infamous for its seemingly endless expanse of flat, gridded single-family sprawl. But to accommodate growth and improve the quality of life, the Valley's distinct neighborhoods are looking to create a sense of place.

October 24 - Los Angeles Daily News

Erin Anderssen takes a critical look at the role of our cities in the provision of much needed childcare. While municipally-delivered childcare has been successful in Scandinavia, some Canadian cities are left playing with alternative approaches.

October 24 - The Globe and Mail

Bike infrastructure is often viewed with skepticism in minority neighborhoods across the U.S. Jay Walljasper looks at how to extend the benefits of biking to communities that often have fewer options for transportation and exercise.

October 24 - People for Bikes

Freed from the political constraints of holding a cabinet position, former Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood told a university audience that the increase is necessary to meet multi-modal infrastructure needs, not just road construction.

October 24 - WAMU

With the publication of a new paper, PPS is celebrating "an important occasion in the evolution of the Placemaking movement." Through 10 case studies, the paper argues for "the importance of Placemaking as a vital part of community-building."

October 24 - Project For Public Spaces

BLOG POST

Exceptionalism is a word often associated with the U.S., most often with foreign policy. Sonia Hirt of VPI argues that since its inception American zoning has also taken a unique form compared to European counterparts.

October 23 - JPER

Though vehicular deaths have been declining across the U.S., pedestrian and cyclist deaths have risen. While intuition might say our ubiquitous cell phones are to blame, hard data has been scarce. A new study seems to support this conclusion.

October 23 - DC.Streetsblog

Are you exceedingly agreeable or exceptionally conscientious? If so, there's a good chance you live in Utah or South Carolina. At least that's according to the findings of a 13-year study into American attitudes conducted by a team of researchers.

October 23 - Time

The U.S. is in the midst of an affordable housing crisis. But as the landmark Mount Laurel saga illustrates, many communities object to developing such housing. Corianne Payton Scally argues that states should work harder to promote such projects.

October 23 - Rooflines

Seaside, Florida is well known as the proving grounds for new urbanism, the place where Andrés Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk made a development into a town. Dhiru Thadani documents the early experiments and unbuilt designs in a new book.

October 23 - CNU

London's wastewater problems go at least as far back as the 19th century, before a 1,100-mile system of tunnels was built to divert the city's waste downstream. A plan to fix that system with a tunnel financed by customer fees is raising a stink.

October 23 - The New York Times

The opening of a "striking" new boathouse designed by noted architect Jeanne Gang along the Chicago River is a major milestone in the transformation of the city's "Ol’ Pisspot” into a public amenity.

October 23 - Grist

Community engagement efforts increasingly look to harness mobile devices and mobile applications to access, inform, and empower the public. However the mobile market is evolving at a fast pace, which complicates our understanding of what works best.

October 23 - This Big City