The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

FEATURE

Former Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendening says that Americans are tired of feeling like victims and are ready for innovative changes in how they live and get around.

July 7 - Parris Glendening

<p>With tourist season in full effect, the Czech city of Prague is hoping to clean up its notoriously dirty streets with a new ban on littering and urinating in public places.</p>

July 6 - Ceske Noviny

<p>A recent study by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources says sprawl is to blame for declining natural resources in Chesapeake Bay.</p>

July 6 - Delmarva Now

<p>Renee Lewis Glover, president and CEO of the Atlanta Housing Authority, reflects on the troubled history of housing projects in Atlanta, GA, as the last of its kind in the city is demolished.</p>

July 6 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

<p>Despite efforts by politicians to enact policies that reduce congestion, the biggest improvements in traffic reduction appear to be tied to rising gas prices and tolls, according to data from New York.</p>

July 6 - The New York Times

<p>This segment from <em>NPR</em> looks at what's behind the trend of house prices falling more sharply outside of cities.</p>

July 6 - NPR

<p>The Onion reports on a study showing that a vast majority of Americans want further investments in public transit so everyone else can get off the road and make their drive faster.</p>

July 5 - The Onion

<p>Florida's plans to purchase nearly 300 square miles of land for Everglades restoration may face some significant challenges, according to skeptics.</p>

July 5 - The New York Times

<p>In this column, landscape architect Bill Thompson, FASLA, takes a look at the shortcomings of Boston's City Hall Plaza as a public space and what he feels are misguided efforts to preserve it.</p>

July 5 - Land Online

<p>In a move to combat the growing numbers of foreclosed homes and provide affordable housing, Fairfax County, Virginia, has announced plans to buy up foreclosed properties to augment the county's supply of affordable homes.</p>

July 5 - The Washington Post

<p>Plans for redeveloping the World Trade Center site in Manhattan have been pushed back again, possibly to 2013.</p>

July 5 - BBC

<p>Satirist Stephen Colbert demands an explanation why the U.S. no longer has the world's tallest skyscrapers while construction is booming overseas.</p>

July 4 - Comedy Central

BLOG POST

Last week marked the third anniversary of the Supreme Court’s ruling in <em>Kelo v. New London</em>. The first time I read <em>Kelo</em>, I thought what many Americans probably thought: that any government could seize property for any reason, so long as it compensated prior owners. <br /> <br /> But after having taught <em>Kelo</em> to law students several times over the past few years, I now realize that Kelo is much more complex. <em>Kelo</em> was a 5-4 decision, and Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote a separate concurrence. Because Justice Kennedy was the “swing vote”, his decision predicts future Court decisionmaking more accurately than the Court’s primary opinion, because a taking which fails to satisfy Kennedy might not be able to get five votes in the Supreme Court.

July 4 - Michael Lewyn

<p>While Americans celebrate the birth of their country, Canadians are celebrating the 400th anniversary of Quebec City, the first permanent settlement in New France. David Hackett Fischer reflects on the city's history and importance.</p>

July 4 - The New York Times

<p>Plans to build a new bridge over the Columbia River in Portland ignored projections that said the newer, bigger bridge would contribute to outward expansion of development from the metropolitan core.</p>

July 4 - The Oregonian

<p>The county board of supervisors in Loudoun County, Virginia, has voted to ban itself from accepting any campaign contributions from developers or builders.</p>

July 4 - The Washington Post

<p>Forbes works with the Center for Neighborhood Technology to find the best neighborhoods to get around affordably.</p>

July 4 - Forbes

<p>The Bureau of Land Management has reversed course on a proposed moratorium on the construction of solar projects on public land.</p>

July 3 - Las Vegas Sun

<p>The Mississippi and Missouri rivers were once dramatically wider, but a century of re-engineering has constricted their courses, making "flood magnification" inevitable.</p>

July 3 - Salon

<p>New York's Union Square is the scene of a lively protest featuring Rev. Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping. At stake is the square's pavilion, which is set to be transformed into a restaurant.</p>

July 3 - The Village Voice