The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

BLOG POST

<p> As Olympics excitement grows in the first week of the London 2012 Games, we in Vancouver watch with great interest, and occasional feelings of deja-vu. Last week in Atlantic Cities, <a href="http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2012/07/what-vancouver-gained-hosting-olympics/2695/" target="_blank">I wrote about</a> Vancouver’s 2010 Olympics experience with Olympic jitters and the host city funk, and the ability of the Games to change cities through the “power of the collective experience.” </p> <div style="text-align: center"> <img src="/files/u31521/city.jpg" width="400" height="225" /> </div> <p> </p>

August 3 - Brent Toderian

After years of signaling its intent, it appears as though the City of Portland is getting serious about ditching its auto-centric level-of-service (LOS) metric with one that evaluates multiple modes, reports Jonathan Maus.

August 3 - Bike Portland

Angelique Chrisafis delivers the fantastic news that, after more than four decades of auto dominance, Paris is returning its riverfront to its people in a "pedestrian 'reconquest' of the banks of the Seine."

August 3 - The Guardian

Earlier this week we brought you stunning images of global urban growth as captured by Landsat, NASA's longest running satellite imagery program. These images capture the dramatic changes to some of America's natural landscapes.

August 3 - Wired

Your boss might be interested in this article, which makes the case for working extra long on Fridays to avoid what, in nearly three-quarters of metros across America, is the worst time of the week to drive. Mike Maciag looks at the worst offenders.

August 3 - Governing

In an article and dramatic photographs and video, <em>The New York Times</em> documents the construction of the city's Second Avenue subway, which has been delayed for more than 80 years and is due to be completed in December 2016.

August 3 - The New York Times

Planted to solve a perceived food desert problem, urban gardens are harvesting more than just fresh, nutritious food. Neighborhoods surrounding gardens are seeing surprising declines in violent crime.

August 3 - Mother Jones

From its mountain tributaries, to the San Fernando Valley, through Downtown, and across the basin into the Pacific Ocean, Christian MilNeil tells the story behind the ecological and recreation rehabilitation of the Los Angeles River.

August 3 - Grist

A new platform from the U.S. government serves as a central location for Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle to share their municipal data.

August 3 - Government Technology

In light of the resounding defeat of Atlanta's regional referendum on a transportation sales tax that could have brought 'transformative infrastructure' to the sprawling region, Brookings' Adie Tomer provides a brief post-mortem on the historic vote.

August 3 - TNR (The New Republic)

FEATURE

August 2 - John Norquist

Emily Badger looks at new data from the Pew Research Center that shows, "As Americans are growing farther apart on the income scale, we are also effectively moving apart from each other within cities, into our own economic enclaves."

August 2 - The Atlantic Cities

With bicycling a $1 billion (with a 'B') industry in the State of Minnesota, a coalition of eight public partners are joining together to raise the profile of biking and make it easier to pedal through the already spoke-friendly state.

August 2 - Co.Design

In an initiative announced today, New York will become the first city in the U.S. to test social impact bonds, "an experimental mechanism for financing social services that has excited and worried government reformers around the world."

August 2 - The New York Times

Sixty percent of premature deaths are accounted for not by medical care or lack thereof, but by social circumstances, environmental conditions, and behavioral patterns. So perhaps the medical field on its own can't prevent them.

August 2 - Shelterforce

Part 4 of this multi-part series on the 5-year anniversary of the August 1, I-35W bridge collapse by David Levinson, U. of Minnesota Professor of Civil Engineering, deals with the three vetoed gas tax measures before and after the bridge collapse.

August 2 - Streets.MN

According to Steve Lackmeyer, traditional highway design, aimed at the automobile, is clashing with modern urban planning trends, of 'complete streets' and multi-modes, over a new proposal to build an elevated highway in Oklahoma City.

August 2 - NewsOK

New renderings unveiled this week at a meeting to solicit community input show what designers James Corner Field Operations, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and Piet Oudolf have planned for the third and final section of the High Line.

August 2 - High Line Blog

Matt Pearce reports on the town of Marshall's road to recovery after a 2010 oil spill damaged the area's human and natural ecosystems, and describes how these long-term impacts should serve as a warning to other communities.

August 2 - The Los Angeles Times

As downtown Los Angeles seeks to cement its nascent transformation into a full-fledged urban neighborhood, Sam Lubell cautions against the threat brought by the suburban mindset of Walmart, Target, and other chain operators.

August 2 - The Architect's Newspaper