The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

FEATURE

Nandita Godbole advocates for parks and greenspaces around Atlanta. But when faced with a struggle over keeping her own quarter-acre backyard open and free, she found she was powerless.

October 8 - Nandita Godbole

With Adolfo Carrion Jr. appointed as a "cities czar" and federal stimulus dollars flowing to urban sustainability projects, the Obama Administration aims to concentrate development to boost "environmentally and economically viable neighborhoods."

October 7 - Washington Post

Planner and author Jeff Speck pays a visit to Lowell, Massachusetts, and tells an audience to tear down their civic center. "If you don't tear it down now, it will become protected in 10 years," says Speck. "Tear it down now."

October 7 - The Lowell Sun

Many of the deaths of the past few rounds of storms and earthquakes are due to inadequate drainage systems, poor building regulation enforcement, and lack of emergency planning.

October 7 - The Wall Street Journal

A proposed CCS site under an eastern German village has met serious opposition from locals who fear their crops and families will suffer. Scientists and the energy company say it's perfectly safe.

October 7 - The Wall Street Journal

Homeland Security is looking to change the way the detention of nonviolent undocumented immigrants is handled. Among the ideas for a more appropriate detention system: converting hotels and nursing homes to hold people who are not accused of crimes.

October 7 - The New York Times

'Visual Acoustics' is a new documentary about the 'vibrant' Mr. Shulman, the photographer of modernist homes who captured the ethos and energy of the Los Angeles modern architecture movement.

October 7 - The New York Times

Residents of the city of Penjaringan in North Jakarta brought a proposal to the government to convert the area underneath a toll road into a public space.

October 7 - The Jakarta Post

Thousands of subdivisions across the country have been abandoned mid-development by owners and developers hit hard by the economic recession. This video takes a tour inside one of these "zombie subdivisions".

October 7 - CNN

Drawn to the Galapagos Islands by their booming tourism industry, thousands of poor Ecuadorians are being booted from the sensitive ecosystem to counteract the negative impact of the rising human population.

October 7 - The New York Times

Every year, residents in Santa Fe, New Mexico send a huge human effigy into flames. Burning with it are physical representations of the bad memories and experiences of the past year.

October 7 - Los Angeles Times

With the layoff of City Planner John 'Rusty' Lewis, Natchez, Mississippi is left with only one employee in its planning department - and she retires next week.

October 6 - The Natchez Democrat

The Chicago Sun-Times look at the transportation future of the Chicago area and sees a return to a time when trains were the main mode of transportation and people walked and bicycled more.

October 6 - Chicago Sun-Times

In a new report with the Cato Institute, Randal O'Toole takes off the gloves and lays the blame for the housing crisis squarely on urban planners.

October 6 - The Cato Institute

BLOG POST

This morning, Mayor Mike Bloomberg unveiled New York City&#39;s long-awaited Big Apps contest. Big Apps seeks to promote the Internet industry in the Big Apple (it&#39;s sponsored by the New York City Economic Development Corporation) and make local government more transparent.<p>I&#39;ve been following the evolution of open data initiatives at the municipal level for about a year now, and was really hoping that New York was going to set the bar for future efforts across the country. It doesn&#39;t. In fact it&#39;s hard to understand why some notable local tech superstars like investors <a href="http://www.avc.com/">Fred Wilson</a> and <a href="http://www.betaworks.com">John Borthwick</a> would sign on to such a lame effort.</p>

October 6 - Anthony Townsend

This audio report form WLRN in Florida looks at the frustrated bicycling community that mobilized to create the city's bicycling master plan, up for approval this week.

October 6 - WLRN

A profile of Kevin Klinkenberg, Kansas City urban planner and architect, talking about his love for the city and the work he's done to make it a better place.

October 6 - The Pitch (Kansas City)

John Norquist is today the president of CNU, but from 1988-94 he was Mayor of Milwaukee. His legacy is apparent today in the city, says blogger Urban Engagement.

October 6 - Urban Engagement blog

BLOG POST

<p> The fall is high season for school visits from prospective students. I am a great believer in doing this remotely—while some greenhouse gases are generated by a Google search it is far less than a plane ride to a distant campus. I suggest visiting schools only after you have been admitted (and not even then if you don’t have a really crucial question that can only be answered on site). However, if you can’t bring yourself to even apply to a school in a place you’ve never visited, and promise to buy carbon set asides, a tour may be worth it. The following tips can help you make the most of the school. </p>

October 6 - Ann Forsyth

Margaret Wente is surprised to learn from reading David Owen's <em>Green Metropolis</em> that her new city lifestyle is super-green, thanks to the advantages of density.

October 6 - The Globe and Mail