The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Stories From New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward

<p>Jonathan Demme's new documentary, "Right to Return: New Home Movies from the Lower Ninth Ward," shows us residents who have returned to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.</p>

June 1 - The New York Times

Questioning Road Expansion In Kansas City Metro Area

<p>On the Kansas side of Metro area, officials still include thinks it needs more roads to ease sprawl created congestion.</p>

June 1 - The Kansas City Star

California Farmland Mitigation Policies Grow

<p>Cities and counties in California's Central Valley are starting to adopt policies to offset the development of farmland. The new policies require developers to fund or purchase agricultural conservation easements.</p>

June 1 - California Planning & Development Report

Venezuela's Community Councils

<p>In Venezuela, small community councils funded by oil money are popping up all over the country, taking control over local decisions such as public education, infrastructure, and building plans.</p>

June 1 - NPR

Google Adds Photorealistic 'Street Views'

<p>Available for select cities, "Street View" feature provides a 360-degree view of a neighborhood. New "Mapplets" enables users to create their own maps.</p>

May 31 - Red Herring


The Battle Over Gated Greenspace

<p>Communities are stepping up measures to prevent developments from fencing in public areas. The new round of protests comes as the amount of open land in the U.S. is shrinking.</p>

May 31 - The Wall Street Journal

California Wine Country Develops Resort Status

<p>The Northern California wine country town of Napa is on its way to becoming a high-class resort, with many housing and resort developers breaking ground on big projects.</p>

May 31 - The San Francisco Chronicle


After Kelo: New Challenges To Eminent Domain Abuse

<p>New Kelo-fighting measures make their way to ballots.</p>

May 31 - The Los Angeles Times

Boston Tries Its Hand At Artist Housing

<p>A new development in Hyde Park aims to revitalize its business district by attracting artists who are being priced out of Boston's formerly affordable neighborhoods.</p>

May 31 - The Boston Globe

Using Church Parking Lots As Catalyst For Downtown Redevelopment

<p>A program in Savannah is encouraging downtown churches to redevelop their parking lots to include needed affordable housing and neighborhood services.</p>

May 31 - Savannah Morning News

New Orleans High-Rise Projects Fall By The Wayside

<p>Though a myriad of development plans have been announced, the slow recovery has put the future of many projects in doubt.</p>

May 31 - Forbes

The Driving Force Behind NYC's Greening Effort

<p>Rohit Aggarwala, a Columbia-educated former business consultant, is helping to create and implement New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's sustainability plan -- PlaNYC.</p>

May 31 - The New York Sun

Two Titans For Evanston?

<p>The Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois is considering two competing proposals for new skyscrapers in its downtown.</p>

May 31 - The Chicago Tribune

Vancouver Struggles With Homelessness, Affordable Housing

<p>As Vancouver prepares for the 2010 Winter Olympics, rampant homelessness and a lack of affordable low-income housing threatens to tarnish the city's Olympic gold.</p>

May 31 - The Tyee

Saving Kabul From The Planners?

<p>Scottish adventurer Rory Stewart and the Turquoise Mountain Foundation are striving to preserve and restore the unique qualities of old Kabul as it recovers from decades of war.</p>

May 31 - The Globe and Mail

Finding A Home In The New Atlantis

<p>In the first of his postings for Grist Magazine, author Wayne Curtis sets the watery stage of his new home in New Orleans.</p>

May 30 - Grist

City And School At Odds Over Massive North San Jose Redevelopment Plan

<p>North San Jose's redevelopment plan calls for 32,000 apartments and 7 million sq.ft of industry along the light rail line, but demand for the latter has dropped. Now the school district wants 4 new schools while the city insists only 1 is necessary.</p>

May 30 - San Jose Mercury News

Urban Planner Detained or Missing In Iran

<p>Iran reports that it has "no exact report" about Kian Tajbakhsh, an Iranian-American urban planning professor and consultant who was detained around May 11 and is now missing.</p>

May 30 - San Diego Union Tribute / Associated Press

Baltimore A Magnet For Female Homebuyers

<p>With relatively affordable housing stock and an increasingly desirable urban environment, Baltimore has attracted single female homebuyers at twice the national average.</p>

May 30 - The Baltimore Sun

BLOG POST

Street Beat

<p>4 tools that support community building at the street level.</p><p>Just heard from my co-worker, Chris Haller, who is at Where 2.0 that Google has announced yet another cool tool for visualization. Street View provides panoramic views embedded as an additional view to g-maps. Initially this tool is only available in 5 cities: Denver, Las Vegas, Miami, New York and San Francisco. </p><p>Was able to locate the following YouTube <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91wuBqlny50">demo</a>. Corny video, but cool technology.</p>

May 30 - Ken Snyder

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