The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

After Greensburg, Kansas was nearly flattened by a tornado in 2007, rebuilding the town has taken an environmentally conscious road.

April 30 - CNN

David McCullough's <em>Newsweek</em> essay ponders the negative effects of a proposed development on the majestic Brooklyn Bridge's image.

April 30 - Newsweek

Urban planning is falling into obsolescence, according to this piece, but employing old bottom-up techniques that value input from a variety of sources will make it relevant again.

April 30 - re:place Magazine

Now that Los Angeles' Century Plaza Hotel has been listed as one of the nation's most endangered historic places, preservationists argue the irony behind developers' plans to demolish the building to "green" the area.

April 30 - Los Angeles Times

According to architect critic Witold Rybczynski, most iconic architecture never intended to be, and it should stay that way.

April 30 - Finance And Commerce

A senior executive at Navistar, a manufacturer of medium and heavy trucks, says the industry is heading for significant changes, including a shift away from long hauling to regional distribution.

April 30 - Transport Topics Online

Diversity is important to neighborhood commercial areas, but getting the right balance of retail and restaurants without disincentivizing the former is not so simple.

April 30 - Greater Greater Washington

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering listing the Tehachapi slender salamander as an endangered species, which could cause problems for large developments in California like the massive Tejon Ranch project.

April 30 - The Los Angeles Times

Transport Textbook maps new data about car ownership in Melbourne, and finds clear evidence that transit makes a difference.

April 30 - Transport Textbook

During the campaign, Obama promised U.S. mayors that he'd create an Office of Urban Policy. But indications so far are that the office is facing a significant downgrade, writes Dayo Olopade.

April 29 - The Root

Proposition 13 has long been associated with California's budget woes and "fiscalization of land use" policies. Meant to apply primarily to residential property, commercial property owners have benefited more. 'Split role' could correct the problem.

April 29 - Sacramento Bee

In this video, police in Denmark stop cyclists without helmets, hug them, and give them new helmets.

April 29 - Boing Boing

This piece offers seven misconceptions about architecture in San Francisco. The first: "This is a liberal city where anything goes."

April 29 - San Francisco Chronicle

Detroit, now no stranger to demolitions, ought to rethink what it does with its abandoned, historic buildings--which have long been bulldozed without much of a second thought.

April 29 - Next American City

The effects of the U.S. Green Building Council's new LEED-ND certification for neighborhoods leaves plenty of questions to be answered regarding its effects (intended or not) on land use, sprawl, and property values.

April 29 - REJournals.com

Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has unveiled plans to turn an industrial parcel of land near downtown into "the global capital of clean technology."

April 29 - Los Angeles Times

Heathrow Airport's Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system is shaping up. Here is an insider's look at how this proof-of-concept system is coming together.

April 29 - YouTube

Population shrinkage in cities like Flint, Michigan can be the perfect opportunity to employ 'smart decline' to make such cities denser and more livable.

April 29 - Crosscut

Foreclosures are skyrocketing in metropolitan Seattle, where some areas have seen figures triple as compared to recent years.

April 29 - The Seattle Times

The 2009 Mercer Quality of Living Survey is dominated by Swiss, German and Austrian cities, while Vancouver hangs on to fourth place, the only city in the Americas to crack the top 10.

April 28 - Citymayors.com