The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

BLOG POST

<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial"><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial">In 1996, my professor at the University of Colorado introduced a new concept – Transit Oriented Development (TOD).<span> </span>An emerging group of professionals that included New Urbanists were advocating the idea, but few on-the-ground examples existed.<span> </span>The debate within the planning field during those years focused on the marketability of a mixed-use product.<span> </span>TODs would have to overcome large obstacles.<span> </span>Banks were hesitant to finance an “unproven” product.<span> </span>Developers wondered if they could pass on higher construction costs to buyers, retailers questioned if there would be enough customers to fill their stores, and planners questioned if TODs would lead to changes in travel behavior.<span> </span>A decade later, many continue to ask the same questions about TOD although the difference today is that there are many successful examples to showcase and study.<span> </span>TOD is gaining popularity and widespread appeal but an important unanswered question remains – will TOD remain a niche product or will it become a mainstream development concept? </span></p>

April 23 - John Renne

BLOG POST

<p>On the Sunday that the April Nor’easter dumped the second highest rainfall ever recorded in Central Park, I waded to the New York Auto Show at the Jacob Javits Center. I wasn’t there to see the mighty floor show of preening cars inside the convention center, I went to see the Taxi ’07 exhibition outside on the wind and rain swept lower roadway. For anyone who has tried to hail a taxi in a Manhattan rainstorm, visiting the exhibition on that Sunday raised a familiar feeling: nearly a dozen yellow taxis in sight, not one of which was going to pick me up and whisk me away to dry land.<br />

April 23 - Barbara Knecht

FEATURE

In honor of Landscape Architecture Month, Planetizen profiles four students who are studying this influential discipline.

April 23 - Nate Berg

<p>Seattle residents are protesting a 600,000 square foot retail development set to move into the city's historic Little Saigon neighborhood. They fear that the character of the neighborhood will be erased by the major chain retailers on tap to move in.</p>

April 23 - The Seattle Times

<p>New rules have come into effect in Massachusetts that will require developers of large-scale projects to estimate and reduce their greenhouse gas production.</p>

April 23 - The Boston Globe

<p>In the first suit of its kind in the state, if not the country, a Southern California county was sued by environmental groups because their general plan doesn't consider the effects of global warming. The state attorney general has joined the suit.</p>

April 23 - The San Bernardino Sun

<p>In a September 2006 referendum, Stockholm voters supported a trial period of congestion pricing between January and July 2006. Consequently, the traffic-reducing scheme that charges drivers for entering the city will return in August 2007.</p>

April 22 - AP via International Herald Tribune

<p>Amid recent talk amongst Canadian officials about the future of Canada's capital city, Ottawa, some say the government city is too square to become an international destination. But others see a way for Ottawa to "swagger".</p>

April 22 - The Ottawa Citizen

<p>Hal Clifford believes that climate change makes other environmental causes insignificant.</p>

April 22 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>An atmospheric scientist is telling local officials in Portland, Oregon, that the concentration of new housing in existing high density areas may be a bad practice, as these areas tend to be located near freeways, and therefore high pollution.</p>

April 22 - The Portland Tribune

<p>A town in England has completely cut itself off from the national power grid, providing all its own energy with mini power stations and renewable energy. Some doubt the system's practicality, but others say it is the new standard for cities.</p>

April 22 - International Herald Tribune

BLOG POST

<p>Constantly updated, the internet has created an important tool for accessing up-to date information—text, still images, and video. Increasingly it also provides a window into aspects of history, including planning history, that have previously been difficult to find. Documents, indexes to archival materials, and the photographic and map collections of historical societies are accessible online. Less well known are film and video resources—resources that can be played online or downloaded. The Library of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division now boasts an outstanding collection of hundreds of videos relevant to urban issues. </p><p>Some examples illustrate the range: </p>

April 21 - Ann Forsyth

<p>Mohawk Indians in Canada have parked a bus on a busy rail line, effectively cutting off transit between Toronto and Ottawa. They are protesting against the government's use of their ancestral land for gravel mining.</p>

April 21 - BBC

<p>A controversial inclusionary housing bill is up for approval in Baltimore, Maryland, that would eventually require all new residential projects with 30 or more units to have a certain percentage of affordable housing.</p>

April 21 - The Baltimore Sun

<p>In an experiment to see what effect great art would have when placed out of context and in public space, acclaimed violinist Joshua Bell stood incognito in a Washington D.C. metro station, playing classical masterpieces during the morning commute.</p>

April 21 - The Washington Post

<p>Housing advocates in British Columbia are pushing a "housing-first" policy to the local government as a way to combat homelessness and save money.</p>

April 21 - Times Colonist

<p>In an Earth Day speech, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is expected to unveil a plan for the future that is sure to have contentious elements, the most provocative being a congestion pricing scheme that he has long resisted.</p>

April 21 - The New York Times

BLOG POST

<p>This post is a few weeks after the fact but the recent APA conference only solidified my resolution to say something.  In early April <a href="http://www.california-architects.com/index.php?seite=ca_profile_architekten_detail_us&amp;system_id=14396">Teddy Cruz</a> gave a lecture here in Philly at the School of Design.  For those of you not familiar with his work, he has a unique and thoughtful perspective on the relationships between culture, planning and design.  </p>

April 20 - Scott Page

<p>A marketing campaign hopes to educate California homeowners of how solar power works.</p>

April 20 - The New York Times

<p>Recently, a long-standing trend of family-flight from San Francisco seems to be reversing. The city hopes to retain more families in coming years, increasing the population of children and families back to peak amounts from nearly 50 years ago.</p>

April 20 - The San Francisco Chronicle