The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Military towns are seeing home sales go up despite decreasing home values elsewhere across the country, thanks in part to a steady wartime economy.

November 12 - Chicago Tribune

New office and apartment buildings in New York City are now mandated to provide a certain proportion of secure bike parking spaces.

November 12 - Business Week

Many are arguing for a new "New Deal" under President-Elect Obama. Economist Paul Krugman says there are many lessons -- good and bad -- Obama should learn from the first "New Deal" before taking the plunge.

November 12 - The New York Times

While many construction and development projects are finding trouble getting funded, sustainable design firms are hanging in there.

November 12 - The Architect's Newspaper

Giant 'supergraphics' drape over the sides of buildings in Los Angeles, usually advertising the latest blockbuster. Almost all of the signs are in violation of sign laws, and building inspectors think they may be fire hazards.

November 12 - The Coalition to Ban Billboard Blight

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced plans to charge a six-cent fee for every plastic bag taken at the register. While good for the environment, some New Yorkers still don't like the idea.

November 12 - The New York Times

North Carolina city dwellers have taken eating locally to a new level by raising their own chickens for eggs. Controversy ensues.

November 12 - Winston-Salem Journal

Wendell Cox looks at how single-family detached housing came to be, and why it's likely to remain a popular option for the middle class.

November 12 - New Geography

Belgian photographer Filip Dujardin combines photos of wildly different buildings into new constructions of impossible architecture.

November 12 - BLDBLOG

Paris' bike sharing program is well-known, but not alone - these programs are flourishing throughout Europe. The key to their proliferation lies in the new technology they utilize. This article highlights the 'third-generation' Barcelona program.

November 11 - The New York Times

Almost 90% of the homeowners in Mountain House, CA, a planned smart growth community in the Central Valley, owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth- the highest percentage in the country.

November 11 - The New York Times

In a time of plummeting oil prices, one might think rail would lose business to trucks, but the freight business is more detailed. In this interview with Burlington Northern Santa Fe CEO Mathew Rose, one gains an insight into freight rail's future.

November 11 - Business Week

President-elect Barack Obama is set to overturn as many as 200 Bush-era decisions, including those aimed at addressing greenhouse gas emissions and recognizing climate change.

November 11 - Washington Post

Cities facing budget cuts are cutting back on Christmas decorations and events. Has the Grinch stolen Christmas?

November 11 - The Wall St. Journal

As renewables replace polluting, carbon-intensive power sources, the reliability of the nation's electricity will be impaired because of the inability of the grid to accommodate power produced from distant sources, according to a new report.

November 11 - The New York Times

BLOG POST

<p> &#160; </p> <p> A few days ago, I was looking at a regional planning document and saw something startling: an assertion that transit ridership in my region has been going down. Since transit ridership has been going up nationwide, I smelled a rat. </p> <p> After digging around through a big pile of statistics, I realized that there are so many different ways of measuring transit ridership that one can easily prove either that ridership is going up or that ridership is going down. Some possible measurements include: </p>

November 11 - Michael Lewyn

A surge in streetcar system construction in the United States is benefitting a number of tram builders like Siemens of Germany and Skoda of the Czech Republic.

November 11 - International Herald Tribune

Urban Velo Magazine updates readers on new methods for making cities cycle-friendly, and provides a brief history of cycles in cities.

November 11 - Urban Velo Magazine

The Old Town neighborhood of Bellingham, WA, is a hangout for the homeless. The city plans to revitalize the area with new condo buildings, but locals fear that new residents won't mix well with the current ones.

November 11 - Seattle Post-Intelligencer

As China embarks on the greatest rail-building investment since the U.S. built its transcontinental railroad, this article points to the urgent need to reform its state-controlled pricing system, both for freight and passengers, to make it effective.

November 11 - Business Week