The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>It's been six years since the creation of the Segway personal transporter, and this talk show from <em>The Onion News Network</em> looks at the phenomenon that has changed the way we live our lives.</p>

April 27 - The Onion News Network

<p>Rising gas prices have caused a noticeable increase in public transit ridership in Seattle. The rising demand has fueled transit officials to push for service expansion.</p>

April 27 - The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Dams have been decimating the population of salmon in Northern California's Klamath River for years, and now Native Americans who depend on the salmon are traveling to visit the owner of the dams to appeal for their removal.

April 27 - The San Francisco Chronicle

<p>Land is being grabbed up all over India in efforts to industrialize the country and bring in foreign investment. The country's poor in these primarily agricultural areas are disproportionately affected by these acquisitions.</p>

April 27 - International Herald Tribune

<p>Two Bay Area 'voices' illustrate that lowering carbon content of fuel and increasing its efficiency hardly gets at the root of the transportation-global warming problem -- auto dependency, and offer three strategies to solve it.</p>

April 27 - World Changing.com

<p>Through the use of a city-wide form-based code, the City of Miami and Duany Plater-Zyberk and Company are teaming up to create a more walkable, transit-oriented city.</p>

April 27 - The Miami Hurricane

<p>As public libraries take on more roles in their communities -- including acting as key public spaces -- librarians are adopting "placemaking" into their facility and service planning.</p>

April 27 - Project For Public Spaces

<p>In this editorial the <em>O'Fallon Journal</em> praises Dardenne Prairie, a growing suburb of St. Louis, for trying to create a downtown and a real "sense of place" in a community that does not have one.</p>

April 27 - O'Fallon Journal

<p>There has been a great deal of press given lately to the crisis in the housing market. The real crisis, writes Alec Dubro, is shelter unaffordability and homelessness for low-income earners.</p>

April 27 - Tom Paine

<p>With Baby Boomers moving into their 60s and a significantly smaller population of younger workers, officials in British Columbia have passed a bill that will do away with the province's mandatory retirement age of 65.</p>

April 27 - Times Colonist

BLOG POST

<br /> Most people that I know want to act responsibly, but when it comes to daily travel decisions they often choose driving over more resource-efficient but less comfortable and convenient alternative modes, such as walking, cycling and public transportation. As a result, they feel guilty, and communities suffer from problems such as congestion, infrastructure costs, consumer costs, accidents, energy consumption, and pollution emissions. <br />

April 26 - Todd Litman

<p>The city council has moved to allocate $8 million dollars to pursue five initiatives recommended by a team of consultants designed to increase the supply of affordable housing.</p>

April 26 - Pasadena Star-News

<p>Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski has undertaken an experiment and social commentary stunt to survive on food stamps. He hopes his $21-a-week food budget will raise awareness of the plight of the low-income residents of his state.</p>

April 26 - Statesman Journal

<p>A designer in Munich has debuted what may be the smallest all-inclusive homes in the world. At just 76 square feet, the tiny cubes come complete with two double beds, table seating for five, a kitchen, storage space, a toilet, and a shower.</p>

April 26 - Wired

<p>Increased crime in downtown Minneapolis around bus stops prompts the mayor, police and businesses to pressure the transit agency to move 7th Street's bus stops three blocks away from the downtown entertainment district.</p>

April 26 - Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune

BLOG POST

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">The 1950’s and 1960’s were boom times for planning and building in the northeastern United States. Projects were designed and built seemingly overnight. For those who idolize Edmund Bacon (Philadelphia&#39;s director of city planning from 1949 to 1970) and Robert Moses (New York City’s master builder from 1924 to 1968), that was the time to plan and design and implement and build --quickly. </font><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font> </p>

April 26 - Barbara Faga

<p>China has announced plans to induce rain in Beijing in the days before the 2008 Olympics in an effort to clean the air. Scientists are wary about the effects of the process.</p>

April 26 - Associated Press

<p>As vehicles become more fuel efficient, their drivers pay less in fuel excise taxes, the main source of road funding. Fuel efficiency will likely increase as a global warming reduction strategy, while fuel excise taxes remain largely stagnant.</p>

April 26 - The Wall Street Journal

<p>Under pressure from federal judges, California has approved plans to build 53,000 new prison and jail beds as part of a $7.3 billion construction effort. Critics say increasing capacity does not address the reasons why prisons are overcrowded.</p>

April 26 - The San Francisco Chronicle

<p>The Los Angeles Planning Department has established an Urban Design Studio to tackle the city's thousands of miles of dead streets and aesthetic blight.</p>

April 26 - The Planning Report