The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>Professor Sudhir Venkatesh of Columbia believe it is time for HUD to be replaced by a more nimble agency capable of responding to the 21st century city.</p>

July 27 - The New York Times

<p>Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens has announced his plan to reduce America's dependency on foreign oil, emphasizing the extensive transfer of wealth out of the country it has caused. His plan relies on natural gas vehicles and increasing wind power.</p>

July 27 - The San Diego Union-Tribune

<p>This segment from <em>NPR</em> looks at results from a new study that show many poor neighborhoods actually have the potential for vibrant economies.</p>

July 27 - NPR

<p>After more than three hours of public comment and debate at Thursday's MTA Board meeting, the Board of Directors approved placing a half-cent sales tax on the November ballot, pending approval of a companion Assembly bill.</p>

July 27 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>Sound Transit is putting a major bus and rail plan on the November ballot. The Seattle Times has the details of where the money will go.</p>

July 27 - The Seattle Times

<p>One of the world's largest urban renewal projects is about to break ground in the Kartal area of Istanbul, and every aspect of the new neighborhood is designed by a star architect. The Wall St. Journal reports on the new "city-building industry".</p>

July 26 - Wall St. Journal

<p>After seemingly endless expansion, Starbucks begins closing some 600 stores, prompting a "save Starbucks" campaign.</p>

July 26 - Slate.com

<p>After a 16-year hiatus, construction has resumed on a gigantic North Korean hotel that some architects and engineers fear is so poorly built that it will never be occupied.</p>

July 26 - The Globe & Mail

<p>A Dallas suburb considers whether to change its sign regulations to allow a massive cuckoo clock in a public space. European cities often have them, but American cities rarely do.</p>

July 26 - Dallas Morning News

<p>Next American City nails NIMBYs for their vacation choices.</p>

July 26 - The Next American City

<p>Developers often see naming streets as their way of making a mark, naming streets after daughters, alma maters, or the family dog. But they often find themselves tangled up in regulations and the limits of their own creativity.</p>

July 25 - The News & Observer

<p>OC Transpo (Ottawa's transit authority) says that Frances Woodard can no longer bring her pet ferret on transit.</p>

July 25 - Canwest News Service

<p>Moscow tops an annual ranking of the world's most expensive cities. The survey examines housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment for corporations and government agencies determining living costs for expats.</p>

July 25 - Forbes

<p>After over fifty years without public transportation, new support for transit from Detroit leaders.</p>

July 25 - National Public Radio

<p>Terrain.org profiles Bradburn Village, a successful New Urbanist project in Westminster, Colorado. As one resident puts it, 'Bradburn is designed around community.'</p>

July 25 - Terrain.org

<p>Former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega laments the incredibly disjointed and ad hoc approach to freshwater management in the United States.</p>

July 25 - Truthout

<p>Malcolm Buchanan writes that advances in control technology and the upcoming launch of the Heathrow Airport PRT mean that Personal Rapid Transit is ready for the spotlight.</p>

July 25 - Citymayors.com

<p>Miami's Coconut Grove waterfront neighborhood may receive a makeover if city commissioners approve a new master plan. However, one questions remains: who is going to fund it?</p>

July 25 - The Miami Herald

<p>Former travel editor Catherine Watson is interviewed on NPR's "Talk of the Nation" about her Amtrak trip on three long-distance trains from Minnesota to New Mexico that illustrate the difference between travel and transportation.</p>

July 25 - National Public Radio - Talk of the Nation

<p>Witold Rybczynski visits Thom Mayne's new Federal Building in downtown San Francisco. He finds a number of energy conservation innovations at play, but concludes that precious little else is playful or human about the architecture.</p>

July 25 - Slate.com