The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Study suggests that light-colored roofs may reduce regional rainfall.

October 4 - Climatewire

Conservative news outlets are recirculating a controversial speech made by President Obama in 2007, highlighting his remark that "We don’t need to build more highways out in the suburbs." Brad Plumer looks at the policy implications of his statement.

October 4 - The Washington Post

As part of the new Transbay Transit Center being developed in downtown SF, several new overpasses are being constructed. Rather than allow the oft-forgotten spaces underneath these roads to become seedy, designers are envisioning positive uses.

October 3 - The Examiner

The American Planning Association has released its annual list of the country's 10 great neighborhoods, 10 great streets, and 10 great public spaces.

October 3 - APA

Miami is as much an industry town as Detroit or Washington D.C. Rather than cars or government, what drives culture (and innovation) in Miami is the city's nightlife scene, explains Emily Badger.

October 3 - Fast Company

Launched in August 2011, Wyst is a social media app that allows users to tag locations in New York City with an emoticon. After a year of collecting data, Wyst has compiled enough info to publish its first Mood Map of NYC.

October 3 - The Architect's Newspaper

Something will be done to help Denver's Elyria and Swansea neighborhoods recover from decades of decline brought by the construction of I-70. Will a plan to bury the interstate be replaced with an ambitious proposal to reroute the road entirely?

October 3 - The Denver Post

After six consecutive years of decline, traffic deaths are rising dramatically across America, reports Ashley Halsey III.

October 3 - The Washington Post

Warnings over the traffic nightmare that could result from the closure of the 405 freeway last weekend in L.A. prompted a city-wide celebration of the local, artistic, and walkable treasures of the city.

October 3 - Fast Company Co.Exist

The high-profile case of Raquel Nelson, who was arrested when her four-year-old son was killed as she attempted to cross the street with him, and another recent episode demonstrate the Atlanta region's abysmal attitude toward pedestrians.

October 3 - Streetsblog D.C.

Frugality is probably not the first word one would associate with a city known for sin and excess. But in the wake of the global financial crash, Matthew Garrahan examines how Las Vegas is pursuing a conservative path to recovery.

October 3 - The Financial Times

As the level of golf participation falls, a new course is rising in a park in the Bronx with the assistance of $97 million in public funds. Is a notoriously expensive, and elitist, sport the best use of land in a borough with a 30% poverty rate?

October 3 - The New York Times

While we're sure the ever-popular "Best City" lists serve some nebulous purpose, a new metric seeks to identify and evaluate America's metro areas by a more comprehensive understanding of how well they're achieving "complete communities."

October 2 - The Atlantic Cities

Alex Steffen, a "leading voice in planetary futurism," muses on what he believes could be a way to move beyond NIMBYism and incremental urban planning, to provide an antidote to fundamentally broken city governance.

October 2 - Planetary Thinking

As Denver B-Cycle, the country's first large-scale municipal bike-sharing program, seeks to expand with 27 new stations, one city councilman is objecting to the plans with concerns that the system is skirting poor and minority neighborhoods.

October 2 - The Denver Post

Designed by architect Léon Krier, and spearheaded by Prince Charles, the 'model village' on 400 acres outside of Dorchester, England was begun 25 years ago. As Graham Norwood reports, its success is still a matter for debate.

October 2 - The Financial Times

Zoning reform is a political campaign. Coder Susan Henderson talks about audience dynamics, with a special focus on how to communicate with property owners and the developer community.

October 2 - PlaceShakers

Smoking is physically harmful to smokers and non-smokers alike, but what about its impact on public space? Nate Berg reports on a new paper in Urban Studies based on interviews in Singapore -- where smoking has been regulated since 1970.

October 2 - The Atlantic Cities

An experimental plan to build a new charter city for 10 million people in Honduras has lost a key element, its expected chairman and chief founder, Paul Romer.

October 2 - The New York Times

Some cities are fighting back against the mortgage crisis, using eminent domain to seize and write down troubled mortgages, keeping homeowners in their homes and keeping local economies afloat, writes Peter S. Goodman.

October 2 - Huffington Post