The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Writer David Lepeska offers a great summary of innovative civic technologies and mobile apps being used across the country, and speculates about which city will be the first to use Twitter as a very public suggestion box.

October 6 - Next American City

San Francisco's new experiment in low-income housing is a beautiful one; a new building combines eye-popping design and amenities you wish you had.

October 6 - Fast Company

No one should be surprised that at Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards site, nothing is, or ever will be, as promised, writes columnist Roberta Brades Gratz.

October 6 - The Citistates Group

In a ceremony that featured local politicians and environmentalists, Caltrain accepts $39.8 million to install Positive Train Control, a funding milestone in the commuter rail's modernization.

October 6 - The (San Mateo County) Daily Journal

An experiment in Germany engages kids to build micro-cities as playgrounds. The idea is coming to downtown Philadelphia.

October 6 - Next American City

The Hubble Space Telescope has been busy for the past decade. After looking at the same spot in the sky for a total of 2 million seconds it has produced what NASA calls the "farthest-ever" portrait of the universe, reports Rebecca J. Rosen.

October 5 - The Atlantic

UCLA's Paul Habibi believes that L.A.'s lack of affordable workforce housing, the "donut hole" between subsidized housing and high-end housing preferred by developers, is harming the city's competitiveness. In a new report he outlines a solution.

October 5 - KPCC

A new suite of tools to help you design, plan, and manage your plot is looking for investors on Kickstarter.

October 5 - Inhabitat

A new skyscraper is set to grace skies over Bogota, Colombia. Instead of one wealthy developer, the tower is being funded by thousands of people, each with their own stake in the property.

October 5 - Fast Company

Park La Brea, the nation's largest housing complex west of the Mississippi, like much of Los Angeles, has changed dramatically over the decades. Yet, an overwhelming sense of community and identity has endured.

October 5 - Los Angeles Times

Chicago's backyards may turn into oases of sustainability with a new program aimed at creating incentives for 'greener' practices in the city's private gardens.

October 5 - Switchboard

Boasting some of the highest housing prices in the country, and rising, San Francisco is in desperate need of affordable housing. This November, the city's voters will have a chance to try to remedy the situation with two ballot measures.

October 5 - Next American City

In the triple bottom line of profits, planet, and people, it's people that tend to get the shaft. Scott Doyon lays out seven ways to change that.

October 5 - PlaceShakers

A new report by the transportation research group TRIP documents the status, safety impacts, and costs of Texas' growing infrastructure crisis.

October 5 - Streetsblog D.C.

At the ASLA 2012 Annual Meeting, a panel of distinguished design critics discussed the need for landscape architecture to take on a greater leadership role in the planning and design of cities.

October 5 - THE DIRT

For Ken Greenberg, it's clear Toronto is "going through a metamorphosis of extraordinary proportions," comparable to the development of New York in the mid-20th century. He examines how the city must prepare for an unprecedented scale of development.

October 4 - The Globe and Mail

The UK's Department for Education is banning curved walls, glazed walls, internal partitions, and a host of other design elements and materials in an attempt to keep a lid on costs for its five-year $4 billion school-building program.

October 4 - The Guardian

A new report documents the rise of payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs) made by non-profits to cities desperate for new revenue. Although they've gained notice by cash-strapped cities, the report indicates PILOTs typically generate little revenue.

October 4 - At Lincoln House

Shaped by two World's Fairs, the long-neglected, but intensely used, park is targeted for redevelopment. City officials plan for a new mall, a soccer stadium, and more parking, upsetting some in the local community.

October 4 - The New York Times

Determined not to let 'congressional gridlock slow economic growth', Pres. Obama added two major transit projects to his 'We Can't Wait" initiative: the proposed Southwest Light Rail Line and Cleveland's University Circle – Little Italy Rapid Station

October 4 - Progressive Railroading