The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

The wave of skyscraper construction in New York is about to jump the East River.

August 6 - Crain's New York Business

BLOG POST

Attempts to limit new construction to preserve neighborhood character are an example of "beggar thy neighbor" politics.

August 5 - Michael Lewyn

The potential of a standard, easily accessible data set tracking building and land use permits could completely change the way the public interacts with changes in their community.

August 5 - The Washington Post - Wonkblog

Rising rents and competition with chains are taking their toll on Manhattan bodegas, a mainstay for hispanic neighborhoods for their fresh and ethnic foods. As their numbers decline, chain stores increase, and Walk Scores drop.

August 5 - The New York Times N.Y. / Region

Is the challenge of retrofitting sprawl intractable or unavoidable?

August 5 - Better Cities & Towns

A consistently miserable record of crashes and fatalities, including pedestrians and collisions with parked cars, is compelling the city of Malibu to undertake a large number of safety improvement projects along the Pacific Coast Highway.

August 5 - Los Angeles Times

A series of maps from The Washington Post answers the questions of how and where the United States gets its energy.

August 5 - The Washington Post

With the highest levels of construction in over a decade, the city is working to reduce traffic congestion.

August 5 - Next City

One of the most influential environmental regulators may be someone you never heard of. She is Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board—twice over. She is pushing automakers to exceed the current 2025 goal for electric vehicles.

August 5 - Bloomberg News

Let the debate ensue about the accuracy (not to mention the appropriateness) of the "Gentrifier Calculator" exercise.

August 5 - Slate

As Open Streets events become more popular and spread to cities all over the world, emerging trends show how to make the most of the opportunity to reclaim streets from cars for a few hours.

August 5 - Open Streets Project

A well-attended racing event was cancelled for the second year in a row on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Organizers are worried the salt flats might never be the same.

August 4 - Associated Press via Detroit Free Press

Urban planning is front in center in Nashville, with a general plan update underway and a mayoral election looming on August 6. One candidate took to the editorial pages of The Tennessean to lay out a housing and transit agenda.

August 4 - The Tennessean

Guns taken off the streets by California police agencies have become a new source of materials for steel reinforcement on bridges and freeways around the Southwest.

August 4 - Global Construction Review

Last week, along a popular San Francisco bike route, a group of protestors took to their bikes to advocate for new laws, such as the Idaho Stop, that make it easier to bike in the city.

August 4 - SF Weekly

BLOG POST

Current planning models places housing affordability and preservation fundamentally at odds with one another. We must be willing to re-evaluate our processes if we are to truly move forward.

August 4 - Reuben Duarte

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray has released a draft plan to overhaul the city's stormwater infrastructure to reduce the pollution levels in Puget Sound.

August 4 - WaterWorld

Inside access to a huge volunteer effort underway in New York City to account for the condition of an estimated 600,000 street trees—where every single one of the city's trees counts.

August 4 - The Nature of Cities

A data visualization project illustrates the long and varied traditions of American single-family housing.

August 4 - The Washington Post

An op-ed calls for an end to five examples of them planning status quo, and recommends four new "rule of thumbs" that can provide a better model for the transportation planning of the future.

August 4 - City Observatory City Commentary