The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Love it or hate it, it's nearly impossible not to have an opinion of Boston's brutalist City Hall building. To mark the fiftieth anniversary of its conception, Leon Neyfakh reports on the improbable story of its creation.

February 13 - The Boston Globe

Roger E. Eastman recounts the process and product of a recent effort by Flagstaff, Arizona to replace an outdated zoning code with an innovative hybrid of form-based and Euclidean elements.

February 12 - Planning

Emily Badger recounts the litany of gripes about Big Box stores, then proceeds to present the results of a recent study that shows why they may not be so bad after all.

February 12 - The Atlantic Cities

Felicity Barringer reports on the growing practice of recycling treated wastewater as drinking water in southwestern cities attempting to address diminishing water supplies.

February 12 - The New York Times

In a fascinating essay in the journal <em>Places</em>, Keith Eggener examines the politics of architectural reputation through the lens of architect Louis Curtiss's life and career.

February 12 - Places

Architect Jeanne Gang and scholar Greg Lindsay have penned an opinion piece in which they investigate the ways in which designers and planners can fix the housing crisis by responding to economic, demographic, and cultural changes.

February 12 - NY Times

When a recent audit of the Port Authority's spending at ground zero turned up $3.8 billion in cost overruns, the Governors of New York and New Jersey went on the offensive. Michael Powell provides some cover for the agency.

February 11 - The New York Times

In this video, host Richard Quest takes us underground to view the work firsthand, where two explosions occur daily right underneath dense city blocks.

February 11 - CNN Business 360

San Francisco will launch a pioneering electric bike share program this year, with the hope that pricing will help nudge consumers towards more efficient decisions, writes Sarah Laskow.

February 11 - Good

Over the past 100 years, women-only train cars have come and gone in Japan. Daniel Krieger reports on why these subway cars have endured amongst women’s concerns for safety.

February 11 - The Atlantic Cities

An Urban Land Institute panel of experts has delivered a vision for how to revitalize the historic Rose Bowl and its environs.

February 11 - Urban Land Institute

John Metcalfe reports on an advertising campaign appearing at bus stops across the UK featuring a fiberglass potato sculpture and a mysterious odor emitting button.

February 10 - The Atlantic Cities

Ben Goldman follows the recent developments as the Senate and House Transportation bills make their way through the Capitol.

February 10 - Streetsblog D.C.

Frances Anderton pens a response to recent hand wringing about the future of the architecture profession, opining on the cyclical nature of the profession and her reasons for optimism.

February 10 - Design & Architecture Blog

Kaid Benfield looks at recent trends in the housing sector and asks whether America's infatuation with the McMansion is over.

February 10 - Switchboard

NASA's amazing high definition update of its infamous "Blue Marble" photograph of Earth is disturbing not for what can be seen, but for what cannot.

February 10 - Mother Jones

In a lengthy interview with ASLA's blog, <em>The Dirt</em>, Robert Hammond, Co-Founder of the High Line, details the birth, life, and lessons of the phenomenally successful park.

February 10 - THE DIRT

Robin Stummer reports on the fate of Britain's greatest surviving historic wooden building, a huge medieval barn that had suffered from years of neglect.

February 10 - The Independent

Matt Sledge profiles the work of a landscape architect who has designed an attractive and innovative system for keeping contaminants out of one of New York's most polluted waterways.

February 10 - Huffington Post

Calling it "uniquely terrible", the Times questions whether it will even survive a full floor vote in the House. The editorial lists three major problems with the bill, but notes there are many more.

February 10 - The New York Times - The Opinion Pages