The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Outdoor seating is a sign of a vibrant city. But in Toronto, neighbor complaints and conflicting regulations conspire to constrain the construction and operation of such spaces along city sidewalks, explains Valerie Hauch.

May 7 - The Toronto Star

Residents living near Brooklyn's toxic Gowanus Canal are fighting the E.P.A.'s $500 million environmental cleanup effort over disagreement with the methods proposed by the agency. Will their opposition thwart the long-sought remediation.

May 7 - The New York Times

Brian Merchant explores the fascinating history of the California Cycleway, a dedicated bicycling superhighway that was partially constructed beginning in 1897 between Pasadena and downtown Los Angeles.

May 7 - Motherboard

Thinking grass roots empowerment makes expertise unnecessary is not a return to traditional placemaking. It's just a new take on business as usual, argues Scott Doyon.

May 7 - PlaceShakers

Since its publication, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 'The Great Gatsby' has epitomized affluence and excess, especially for New York, where the book is set. Leonardo DiCaprio aside, Elizabeth Harris looks at the enduring attraction of Gatsby for developers.

May 7 - The New York Times

Eli Lehrer argues that ending subsidies to high-risk developments, as Florida is about to do, presents a successful small-government environmental preservation measure that also benefits taxpayers.

May 7 - Huffington Post

Eric Jaffe traces the uneven history of private sector involvement in road construction and management. The involvement of public-private partnerships will likely continue to grow, despite the potential pitfalls.

May 7 - The Atlantic Cities

"The comeback of the urban core is a striking reversal of long-term trends," proclaims Richard Florida. Although this rebound is good for urban growth and prosperity, it hasn't been able to solve enduring problems of poverty and disadvantage.

May 6 - Urban Land

For the first time, a new law allows Colorado's cities and counties to spend revenue raised by the state's fuel sales taxes and license plate fees on projects other than roads and bridges.

May 6 - The Denver Post

Ben Poston investigates Los Angeles's "60-year backlog of failed streets." A strategy designed to pave over the disparities between council districts means that the most damaged of the city's 6,500 miles of paved roadway get fixed last.

May 6 - Los Angeles Times

The rising interest in urban living has meant a growing shortage of affordable housing in cities across the country. Roger Lewis proposes a new approach to help solve the crisis: building workforce housing funded by the public sector.

May 6 - The Washington Post

Ron Nixon provides an update on the implementation of the Passenger Rail Investment & Improvement Act of 2008 that requires states to subsidize shorter Amtrak routes in order to reduce Amtrak's federal subsidy. 28 routes in 19 states are at stake.

May 6 - The New York Times - U.S.

David Hochman profiles Ron Finley, an urban gardening activist from South Los Angeles whose breakout TED talk and volunteer work are attracting some high profile supporters.

May 6 - The New York Times

For a city known for concrete and freeways, Houston has made great strides investing in parks and green spaces. With several new parks completed and in the works, and older ones being renovated, the transformation is garnering national attention.

May 6 - Houston Chronicle

Before there were Safeways and Sam's Clubs, public markets served as the cultural and culinary anchors of towns across the United States. Many were also fine pieces of architecture. David K. O’Neil looks at 10 of the best that have been lost to time.

May 6 - PPS Placemaking Blog

Many planners these days are promoting higher densities, especially in urban cores. Urban scholar Joel Kotkin inexplicably takes this trend to mean that a "cult" of planners favors bone-crushing crowds that would turn US cities into slums.

May 6 - California Planning & Development Report

In the pre-modern era, city-states were the engines of global trade and diplomacy. As rapid urbanization drives globalization outside the structures of international frameworks, cities are returning to the fore as transnational actors.

May 6 - Quartz

Chuck Wolfe summarizes a major tenet of his new book and suggests we risk ignoring the back story of urban forms and functions by failing to truly understand the traditional relationships between people and place.

May 5 - The Atlantic Cities

In order to more efficiently carry out its long-range comprehensive plan, Kane County, Illinois has created the Kane County Planning Cooperative as the central implementing body to work with various stakeholders.

May 5 - Global Site Plans - The Grid

As they move into positions of leadership in their communities and in the public sector, a generation once labelled as "slackers" is helping to change the relationship between governments and their citizens, reports Rob Gurwitt.

May 5 - Governing