The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
The American Planners Who Designed the Australian Capital
Eleri Harris offers a graphic account of the historic planning and design of Canberra, Australia—designed and planned by Americans, Walter Burley Griffen and Marion Mahony Griffin.
Mixed Reviews on New Passenger Rail Reauthorization Act
Six years ago Congress passed the first Passenger Rail Reauthorization Act, known as PRIIA. Reauthorization was introduced on September 11, in a bill (known as PRRIA) praised by some but also criticized for decreasing Amtrak funding by 40 percent.
Seattle's First Hill Streetcar Delayed by Late Arrival of Trains
It's not a mishap on the scale of the Bertha tunnel-boring machine stuck under Seattle's Downtown waterfront, but contractors underestimated the amount of time necessary to build seven trains for the city's new streetcar line.
Bike Master Plan, Complete Streets Design Guidelines for Alexandria, Virginia
The city of Alexandria, Virginia will this month begin an update of its Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan while also developing Complete Streets Design Guidelines.
Bikelash Halts 22nd Street Bike Lane in Philadelphia
Despite an August repaving of 22nd street in the Fairmount neighborhood, lane markings have yet to appear due to City Council scuffles on whether or not the street will undergo a road diet and add an additional bike lane.
RiverBend Project Begins New Chapter for Buffalo, NY
Solar panel company SolarCity unveiled plans for one of the largest solar panel factories to open in Buffalo, New York, forecasting almost 3,000 jobs for the factory alone.
Underground: The Next Frontier of Urbanization
With rapidly urbanizing metro areas, some cities are not looking to build up, or spread out, anymore. Rather they have begun to grow into underground spaces.
Quality of Life Driving 'Brain Gain' in Rural Communities
Many rural counties are experiencing “brain gains” as newcomers age 30-49 move in. This migration is keeping small towns alive and contributing to a new narrative about rural places.
Florida Pilots Bike Lanes on Highway Bridges
In an effort to create safer walking and biking environments, Miami-Dade counties have built bike lanes along two highways connecting the Miami with its eastern island beaches, reducing travel distances by 75 percent for cyclists.
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Where Critics Fear to Tread
Design criticism bridges the gap between the process and product of design, and the public’s understanding and appreciation for it. But does it have to be all about architecture?
State Transportation Funding Falling Faster than Federal Transportation Funding
A new analysis form the Pew Charitable Trusts showed a 20 percent reduction in state spending on transportation between 2002 and 2011, compared to a 4 percent drop from the federal government over the same period.
Court Ruling for Beach-Blocking Billionaire Redeems Public Access
Vinod Khosla, the California billionaire who made news earlier this year for blocking access to a public beach, had his day in court.
Neuroscience and Landscape Architecture
Two new studies use EEG and fMRI to pinpoint which elements of urban parks and gardens induce brain activity associated with meditative states.
The Story Behind the 'Most Vetted Soccer Field in U.S. History'
A simple proposal to replace grass soccer fields with artificial turf, thus doubling the amount of time the fields could be used, has been frozen by the litigation and ballot initiatives of the San Francisco planning process.
New Mobile Phone Charging Stations Powered By Kinetic Energy
Combining both solar power and kinetic energy, the first public phone charging station of its kind was recently installed at Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri.
TED Talk Pitches a Shift in Street Design
Mikael Colville-Andersen discusses the benefits and methods of designing bicycle infrastructure within a city in a TEDxZurich talk.
Gov. Jerry Brown Touts California's Success at U.N. Climate Summit
Leonardo DiCaprio may have received top billing, but Jerry Brown spoke as well on the actions of the Golden State to combat climate change under his watch. Two days earlier, he signed six bills to increase sales of electric vehicles.
Making NYC's Sanitation and Waste Disposal Sexy
A new six-part video series from The New York Times called "Living City" is aiming to make the infrastructure handling New York City's basic needs sexy.
Friday Funny: Missed Opportunities—The Getty Villa Volcano
From the never built files (except this time for good reason): A proposal not endorsed during a 19070s expansion plan for the Getty Villa in the Pacific Palisades was a recreation of Mount Vesuvius.
Friday Eye Candy: Life Finds A Way
NPR's Cities Project is crowdsourcing Instagram photos of nature creeping back into urban spaces.
City of Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
