The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>Investors are taking advantage of tax breaks offered for developing and buying property in hurricane-affected areas of the Gulf region, such as the hot condo market that has sprung up next to a college football stadium in Alabama.</p>

August 15 - Associated Press via The St. Louis Post-Dispatch

<p>With major roadwork underway on a stretch of heavily-used Interstate 5 in Seattle, many commuters chose public transit to avoid the resulting congestion. But many are wondering whether commuters will keep using transit after the work is done.</p>

August 15 - The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

<p>Two Roanoke City Councilmembers explain why they voted against an $880,000 city grant to a local developer and propose a more objective approach to offering development incentives.</p>

August 15 - The Roanoke Times

<p>New research is showing that the ancient Cambodian city of Angkor was once a sprawling and intricately irrigated metropolis of nearly one million people.</p>

August 15 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>Despite busts in residential construction, American cities such as Phoenix are managing to continue growing due to an influx of commercial construction.</p>

August 14 - The Wall Street Journal

<p>Three mixed-use, walkable urban villages near Seattle have become very popular with residents since their creation in the '80s and '90s. But while small businesses prosper and home vacancies remain low, few jobs are available.</p>

August 14 - The Seattle Times

<p>More than $83 million will be slashed from Toronto's annual budget, and many, including the mayor, predict a sharp cut to services and the city's general quality of life.</p>

August 14 - The Toronto Star

<p>Collective action and micro financing are two promising models for improving the livability of informal settlements, writes Neal Peirce.</p>

August 14 - The Seattle Times

<p>The design competition for San Francisco's Transbay Terminal has the potential to redefine the city, writes John King.</p>

August 14 - The San Francisco Chronicle

BLOG POST

<p> The <a href="http://www.bauhinia.org">Bauhinia Foundation Research Centre</a>, a think tank close to Hong Kong governor Donald Tsang, has just released a <a href="http://www.bauhinia.org/publications/BFRC-HKSZ-ES-ENG.pdf">report</a> arguing that it might make sense for Hong Kong and Shenzhen to merge into a single metropolitan entity. According to <em>The Economist</em> Cities Guide email update (one of the magazine&#39;s best services for subscribers and a most for global urban trendwatches): </p>

August 14 - Anthony Townsend

<p>Civic leaders and city officials in Tucson recently traveled to Portland to get advice about how to improve their city while dealing with an expected population boom. The trip highlighted the big differences between the two cities.</p>

August 14 - Arizona Daily Star

<p>A flea market space located adjacent to a planned expansion of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system in San Jose, California, may be replaced with a mixed use transit village.</p>

August 14 - San Jose Mercury News

<p>The country is stocked with antiquated infrastructure, but this piece from <em>The New York Times</em> says that some of it is only old because it was built to last.</p>

August 14 - The New York Times

<p>Half a million street vendors fill the squares of Mexico City to make their living. The mayor wants to wipe out the vendors, whose businesses contribute no taxes to the city. But the vendors have their own organization that opposes the city's plans.</p>

August 14 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>City and county officials in Milwaukee are reviving efforts to create a regional transportation system. But officials are moving ahead cautiously to avoid the mistakes that halted similar plans in the past.</p>

August 14 - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

<p>A new pedestrian bridge has been added over the Grand Canal in Venice, despite objections from locals that the new modern-designed bridge is out of place.</p>

August 13 - International Herald Tribune

<p>Transportation plans in Memphis are undergoing a major facelift this summer, and the city's metropolitan planning organization is calling on residents to get involved in the process and the future of their city.</p>

August 13 - The Daily News (Memphis)

<p>City officials in a Boston suburb are once again trying to approve building restrictions that would cut down the size of new houses in the city. Builders' groups are lobbying the city to find a compromise.</p>

August 13 - The Boston Globe

<p>San Francisco's Critical Mass bike ride has become an institution in the city, giving cyclists a monthly chance to physically advocate bike awareness.</p>

August 13 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>A lack of attention to the problem of homelessness is turning our public libraries into homeless shelters.</p>

August 13 - Wichita Eagle