The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has kicked off a new bicycle safety campaign designed to raise awareness of cyclists' legal right to take a full traffic lane.

March 19 - The Source

Gas prices may rise due to the ethanol requirement. But there is no shortage - in fact, there's a glut, as we reported in Nov., 2009. It's the ethanol credits that have surged in price. What - you didn't know there was an ethanol credit market?

March 19 - Is It Time To End Ethanol Requirement For Gasoline?

While many cities are seeking to build large entertainment venues to revive their downtowns, St. Petersburg is taking the opposite track. Stephen Nohlgren examines whether Tropicana Field can be the city's next big urban mixed use development.

March 19 - Tampa Bay Times

In need of at least $230 million for system-wide repairs, NYC libraries, which receive less than $15 million a year from the city, look to strike land deals with private developers, report Joseph Berger and Al Baker.

March 19 - New York Times

The resurgence of farmers markets across America has helped feed the growing desire for locally grown produce. Unfortunately, the return on investment still doesn't pencil out for many farmers.

March 19 - NPR

A novel approach to land conservation is emerging in the American West, where environmental advocates, ranchers, hunters and rich landowners, are utilizing the free market, rather than the courts, to preserve public landscapes.

March 18 - The New York Times

EVolo Magazine has selected the three winners of its annual competition to "recognize outstanding ideas for vertical living." 625 entries were received from 83 different countries.

March 18 - Fast Company Co.Exist

1.2 million people are killed by road collisions every year, says a new report from the World Health Organization. Across the world, it's the leading cause of death for 15- to 29-year-olds. Nick Mead discusses the report's chilling findings.

March 18 - The Guardian

Food is a central part of New York City's economy. Residents of the city spend $30 billion on food each year: growing jobs, driving development, and defining its neighborhoods. Yet there's much more NY could do to support its food resurgence.

March 18 - Regional Plan Association

A major reason given by Keystone XL pipeline supporters is that the Canadian oil it will deliver to Gulf refineries will help make the U.S. 'energy independent', yet data shows that those refineries are now exporting 60% of the gasoline they produce.

March 18 - The Wall Street Journal

Using Omaha's Old Market neighborhood as an example, Nathaniel M. Hood calls for an end to the urban "Entertainment District" - the common revitalization tool that produces a "single-use monoculture" that alienates families and baby boomers.

March 18 - Strong Towns

Rather than the doomsday scenarios envisioned by critics, recent results indicate that closing streets to cars can have a demonstrable effect in improving circulation.

March 18 - Copenhagenize

Cecilie Rohwedder profiles playground designer Peter Heuken, who's at the vanguard of a trend towards bespoke play spaces that challenge children as much as they entertain them.

March 18 - The Wall Street Journal

When the combined cost of coal and oil extraction equals America's annual budget deficit, how do we account for the cost of prevention? Amy Larkin discusses the "environmental debt" - the coming "centerpiece of our financial troubles."

March 18 - The Huffington Post

Over the weekend it was announced that 71-year-old Japanese architect Toyo Ito has won this year's Pritzker Prize, the most prestigious award in the field. The jury honored Ito for combining "conceptual innovation with superbly executed buildings."

March 18 - Los Angeles Times

BLOG POST

Do skyscrapers cause 9-to-5 business districts?

March 17 - Michael Lewyn

Did the rezoning of the Williamsburg waterfront backfire? Stephen Jacob Smith reflects on the lack of transition between the neighborhood's skyscraping waterfront and its low-rise inland, a missing middle mandated by recent upzoning.

March 17 - New York Observer

With 35.5 million Americans claiming at least some Irish ancestry (five times more than the population of Ireland), you've got a pretty good chance of finding an Irishman or woman to kiss if you know where to look in the United States.

March 17 - The Huffington Post

Lamar Anderson offers a window into some promising extremely inexpensive housing solutions that engage the user in the design and construction process.

March 17 - Architectural Record

Juliet Eilperin reports that the Obama administration's much lauded proposal to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants will miss an upcoming deadline for finalization, and will likely be revisited.

March 17 - The Washington Post