The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>With Hudson Riverfront developments finding success in lower Manhattan and Jersey City, the city of Yonkers, New York, is looking to redevelop its own waterfront. There are also plans to unearth a subterranean river and develop along its course.</p>

August 8 - Architectural Record

<p>With few paved roads, rail is often the best transport option in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But the system suffers derailments, crumbling tracks, and trains in disrepair -- and the government doesn't have the money to fix it.</p>

August 8 - The Washington Post

BLOG POST

<p> Valleywag, the uber-obnoxious Bay Area gossip blog has a great piece on the impact a rapidly-expanding Facebook.com has on downtown Palo Alto (The Institute is right across the street!) </p>

August 7 - Anthony Townsend

BLOG POST

<p>I first visited the African American suburb of Country Club Hills, south of Chicago, as an interviewer for a research project. It seemed as though only race had been reversed: The Maryland suburbs I had grown up in were 80 percent white, these were 80 Black, but otherwise they were so utterly familiar, right down to the floor plan of the split-level ranches, that I knew the layout of every home before I went in.</p> <p style="line-height: 150%" class="MsoNormal"> In research I’ve begun on other Black, middle-class suburbs, however, it turns out that more than color has been reversed. In fact, race reverses many of the things planners have come to see as inevitable.</p>

August 7 - Greg Smithsimon

<p>As planners move forward on plans to rezone and redevelop the riverfront and harbor in Portland, Oregon, environmental and industrial interests are clashing on how best to make it happen.</p>

August 7 - The Portland Tribune

<p>As plans develop to add lanes to a turnpike in Pennsylvania, residents are upset over large losses in property and no provisions for sound barriers.</p>

August 7 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

<p>In Los Angeles and much of Southern California, more multi-family homes are being planned and built than single-family residences.</p>

August 7 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>For 30 years, a farmland conservation program in Long Island was able to keep farmers farming land that was becoming increasingly valuable and sought by developers. But now, the land is being bought by developers and is not being farmed.</p>

August 7 - The New York Times

<p>In Damascus, plans to build an eight-lane highway through the middle of what is one of the oldest Arabian cities in the world have upset locals and historians.</p>

August 7 - The Economist

<p>This article from <em>Time</em> looks at the shortcomings of the nearly 1,000 Army Corps of Engineers projects facing Senate approval and a Presidential veto, saying the proposals will harm an already broken infrastructure system.</p>

August 7 - Time

<p>In a national survey on the best Canadian cities, Vancouver finished with top honors. But other Canadian cities were also recognized for their strengths.</p>

August 7 - The Vancouver Sun

<p>Politicians in England are proposing a tax on flights and freight haulers to help fund rail initiatives.</p>

August 7 - BBC

<p>Transportation planners in Tallahassee, Florida are resisting calls for more on- and off-ramps on I-10, hoping to limit use of the highway by local travelers in a bid to prevent congestion.</p>

August 7 - Tallahassee Democrat

<p>With its voter approved, tax-financed public works campaign called FasTracks, Denver is blazing a trail for regions that are serious about expanding transit options.</p>

August 7 - The Los Angeles Times

BLOG POST

<p> The gang at <a href="http://www.appleseedinc.com">Appleseed</a>, one of New York City&#39;s most interesting boutique economic development consultancies, has just <a href="http://blog.appleseedinc.com">launched a new blog</a>. This is looking to be a must-read, as founder Hugh O&#39;Neill has been one of the most accurate analysts and forecasters of economic trends in the New York region for many years now, and a strategist bar none. If his first post, a take on New York City&#39;s current commercial real estate market is a harbinger of things to come, I suspect we&#39;ll be back for more. </p>

August 6 - Anthony Townsend

<p>This article looks at how the once unimaginable concept of paying for road use is gaining ground amongst politicians.</p>

August 6 - Sustainable Industries

<p>Cob houses -- some of which have lasted half a millennium in Europe -- are gaining interest among homeowners looking for a sustainable, inexpensive, and long-lasting structure.</p>

August 6 - The Globe & Mail

<p>Contemporary architecture needs to reacquaint itself with the creation of beautiful and people-friendly spaces, argues columnist E. Thomas McClanahan.</p>

August 6 - The Kansas City Star

<p>With the era of easy financing over, buyers should seek out smaller, more affordable homes.</p>

August 6 - The Washington Post

<p>With ridership on the only commercially operating maglev line far below expectations, the much admired technology might be in danger of extinction.</p>

August 6 - International Herald Tribune