The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

A new paper by a group of international scientists warns that the planet may be at the tipping point of causing a rapid irreversible transition to a "state unknown in human experience," reports Bettina Boxall

June 9 - Los Angeles Times

The waning popularity of its transportation system and the lack of attention to its lower-income population has put Curitiba’s “reputation as an urban planning model” on the line.

June 9 - The Atlantic Cities

As Congress haggles over a new transportation bill, a report out last week argues that all stakeholders would be better served if state and federal governments conducted rigorous economic analysis before spending money on transportation projects.

June 9 - Governing

Scattered-site rental management is something nonprofits have long found to be a challenge. But there are ways of pulling it off, and those who have done it tell Shelterforce how, and why it’s worth it.

June 9 - Shelterforce Magazine

With the highest obesity rate and poorest population of America’s big cities, Philadelphia is launching an ambitious plan to increase residents' access to healthy food, reports Sarah Kliff.

June 9 - The Washington Post

From pickles to beef-jerky, Brooklyn takes its hand-crafted products seriously. But with a wave of artisanal parking tickets appearing on windshields in Park Slope, has the borough gone too far - or just far enough?

June 8 - Grist

Amsterdam has a serious parking problem, but it's not what you might think. In this bike friendly city, their problem is of the two- rather than four-wheeled kind. Duncan Geere looks at a potential solution.

June 8 - Wired

Sarah Kathleen Peck speaks with Amanda Walter and Holly Berkley about their new book, "Social Media in Action," the challenges different design professions have in communicating their work, and the ways in which new technologies are making it easier.

June 8 - Metropolis POV Blog

Rather than turn its back of the remnants of the industry that made and unmade this quintessential steel town, Bethlehem is rethinking its identity with the abandoned steel plant turned cultural magnet as its centerpiece, writes Tom Stoelker.

June 8 - The Architect's Newspaper

Curious about a legislator's offhand remark that light rail is "a total waste of money," Marlys Harris investigates the extent to which motorized transportation modes in the Twin Cities are subsidized. It turns out light rail is a heavy bargain.

June 8 - MinnPost

<em>The Dirt</em> reports on findings disclosed by this year's iteration of the Yale and Columbia University produced Environmental Performance Index (EPI). A new metric unveiled this year tracks the trend in each country's environmental performance.

June 8 - THE DIRT

With "guys in suits" having replaced the "artists, weirdos and blue-collar families" that surrounded Adam Davidson while growing up in the Village in the 1970s, he wonders if mom-and-pop shops can survive the neighborhood's extreme gentrification.

June 8 - The New York Times

The high cost of driving in Los Angeles has led some residents to swap their cars for bikes, buses, and the subway. This change has inadvertently allowed them to find freedom in their lives and a better connection with the City of Angels.

June 8 - Good Cities

Geoff Dyer points out why the difference between the typical strip mall and the multi-way boulevard may be more subtle than you think.

June 8 - PlaceShakers

Imagine converting a downtown street into a bicycle, people, and eco-friendly one - for just one week, by a crack team of urban design graduate students. Such an undertaking was done by Kent State U.'s urban design collaborative. Watch and learn!

June 8 - Streetsblog Network

BLOG POST

<p> <em>Editor&#39;s Note: A <a href="/node/56493" target="_blank">recent Planetizen blog post</a> by the University of South Florida’s Steven Polzin voiced several criticisms about the Housing + Transportation (H+T®) Affordability Index, created by the Chicago-based Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT). We have provided a venue for Scott Bernstein, founder and president of CNT, to respond below.</em> </p> <p align="center"> <u>CNT’s H+T Index Fills Gaps in Data that Others Don’t Provide</u> </p>

June 7 - Jonathan Nettler

Phyllis Lambert and Dinu Bumbaru author an opinion piece for the <em>Montreal Gazette</em> decrying plans to demolish a block of historic buildings on St. Laurent Blvd that reflect a key moment in the development of the city.

June 7 - Montreal Gazette

Say what you will about the gentrification of Brownstone Brooklyn, but there's no question that Everett and Evelyn Ortner's regard for the neighborhood's historical treasures had a significant influence on its evolution over the past 50 years.

June 7 - The New York Times

Yesterday, New York City's Planning Commission voted nearly unanimously to support a slightly reduced version of New York University's controversial expansion plans for two superblocks in Greenwich Village, reports Tom Stoelker.

June 7 - The Architect's Newspaper Blog

In light of dismal jobs reports and a lending environment in which the U.S. is "paying better rates than when George Washington was running unopposed for the presidency," Jordan Weissmann rants about the country's lack of infrastructure spending.

June 7 - The Atlantic