The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

BLOG POST

<p class="MsoNormal">Lastmonth’s blog outlined how to find books recommended by many planners—important,classic, or accessible. </p><p class="MsoNormal">However,summer is also a time to push your viewpoint a bit further. For those wantingreadings that might push you tothink differently about planning, the following lists are useful startingpoints. (And a note to planners—we need more of these lists reflecting different placesand people and issues!) </p>

June 29 - Ann Forsyth

<p>A Delaware energy company has agreed to buy power from a proposed offshore wind power farm that could now be built by 2012. The agreement gives more clout to the proposed power farm, which has been debated in the state for years.</p>

June 29 - The News Journal

<p>High water levels are straining hydroelectric power generators in Oregon, where too much energy is being created.</p>

June 29 - The Oregonian

<p>Artist Olafur Eliasson has installed a cascading waterfall directly under one of the towers of the Brookyln Bridge. In this excerpt, he reflects on the need for public space and the impact of art in public.</p>

June 29 - Wall St. Journal

<p>Energy-efficient vehicles,buildings, appliances, low carbon fuels,and renewable energy took center stage in the Climate Change Draft Scoping Plan released June 26 by the CA Air Resources Board, a major step in meeting the landmark AB 32 climate goals</p>

June 29 - The San Francisco Chronicle

<p>This multimedia presentation from <em>Popular Science</em> offers a vision of future green cities and the technologies that will sustain them.</p>

June 29 - Popular Science

<p>As part of a new strategy to prevent deforestation in the Amazon, government officials in Brazil have begun seizing livestock that graze on illegal ranches.</p>

June 28 - The New York Times

<p>With unprecedented demand, Amtrak is hampered by years of neglect. The agency is unable to handle all the new customers resulting from high gas prices and plane tickets and is struggling to replace aged equipment and pay for increased fuel costs.</p>

June 28 - The New York Times

<p>Bohmte, Germany is following the lead of an EU program called "Shared Space", which recommends that cities remove traffic signals and find ways to encourage cars to share their space with pedestrians and bicyclists.</p>

June 28 - ABC News

<p>Philadelphia has struggled to deal with its large supply of derelict housing, and it serves as a lesson for lawmakers when they try to find ways to stop neighborhoods from deteriorating.</p>

June 28 - The Wall Street Journal

<p>This slideshow from <em>Popular Science</em> looks at some of the most heavily polluted cities in the world.</p>

June 28 - Popular Science

Not Fooling Anybody collects photos of former chain restaurants that have been awkwardly converted into ethnic restaurants, chiropractors, police stations, and more.

June 27 - Not Fooling Anybody

<p>Mike Davis wonders if the excesses of Dubai portend a rapidly-warming and deteriorating world of diverging urban fortunes, where a minority live in eco-friendly luxury, while most endure polluted squalor.</p>

June 27 - TomDispatch

<p>A recent conference in Austin, Texas, of real estate appraisers explored how they should incorporate green-building techniques and features into their assessment of properties.</p>

June 27 - Austin Business Journal

<p>A local nonprofit named SCRUB caught Pabst Brewing creating "guerrilla marketing" ads disguised as decorative murals in Philadelphia, a violation of sign restrictions.</p>

June 27 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

<p>Congress is promising to pass before Independence Day a sweeping set of housing legislation that would offer refinancing packages, a trust fund for affordable rental housing and offer tax credits for purchasing unoccupied houses.</p>

June 27 - The New York Times

<p>Joe White, who reports on the auto industry in Detroit, steps out his car and reflects on the city's mixed history of transit. To get the full picture, he tries to ride the bus himself.</p>

June 27 - Wall St. Journal

<p>Washington D.C.'s recent lift of its citywide handgun ban could signal a change for other cities with similar bans, like L.A. and Atlanta.</p>

June 27 - NPR

<p>Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's half-cent increase in the county's sales tax would create $30-$40 billion for transportation projects over the next 30 years, and could go before voters in November.</p>

June 27 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>This article from <em>Next American City</em> looks at escalators -- the expensive, energy-intensive, and often under-used transportation mode.</p>

June 27 - The Next American City