The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

According to a study by the non-profit Trust for Public Land, reporter Haya El Nasser says that dog parks are becoming the fastest-growing of city parks nationwide.

December 8 - USA Today

Los Angeles is considering a new ordinance that will allow artists to paint murals on private property as long as they have permission from the owner.

December 8 - Los Angeles Times

University of Sydney Professor Edward Blakely has reviewed Moscow’s plan to expand the capital’s borders to the south-west by 2014 and proclaimed that they will not hamper the city’s development. The territory will more than double.

December 8 - RT

In Washington D.C., Michael Perkins explains that starting next July, Metro would be at a deficit of $120 million. They have come up with several ideas to raise a portion of that money through fares.

December 8 - Greater Greater Washington

Public plazas aren't just for Manhattan. As part of DOT's Public Plazas program, one outer Brooklyn neighborhood has seen a traffic island turned into a pedestrian plaza. Matt Chaban reports on the praise it has earned.

December 8 - The New York Observer

Part of the trouble is finding language that will prevent billboards from proliferating, but planners finally have a draft for public review (available in the article).

December 8 - LA Weekly

British entrepreneur Roger Wade has built "[t]he most environmentally friendly shopping mall ever built." 'Boxpark,' which recently opened, is composed of 60 standard size shipping containers stacked two stories high by five rows wide.

December 7 - CNN

NY Governor Andrew Cuomo touts private investment as a solution to New York's transportation funding woes. But a conference of infrastructure experts agree that private partnerships aren't a substitute for public funds.

December 7 - Streetsblog

Speaking before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood defended the viability of the President's ambitious, national high-speed rail program.

December 7 - Governing

The deeper our sense of community, the better positioned we are to take on change, says Scott Doyon, but the leisurely lull of the suburbs may have killed our ability to work together.

December 7 - PlaceShakers

Famed architect Tadao Ando wants to transform 220 acres of landfill in Tokyo Bay into a floating forest of almost half a million trees.

December 7 - The Asahi Shinbun

As Los Angeles works to rein in billboard blight around the city, the Parks and Recreation Dept. comes out with a surprise request for permission to put up more off-site signage.

December 7 - Curbed

While the article is headlined "We Need More Zoning," the body is more about the need to plan public spaces well before architects and developers come in to guide their projects for the public good.

December 7 - The New York Observer

Canadian cities are increasingly investing in cultural centers in their downtowns in order to create attract people and spur investment.

December 7 - The Globe and Mail

A 2003 policy that mandated that subsidized developements grant jobs at living wages has not hampered development, according to one official.

December 7 - Capital New York

Urban areas have been historically shortchanged when drawing Congressional district lines, and some mayors are less than thrilled to see their municipalities "carved up." Michael Cooper reports.

December 7 - The New York Times

The EPA estimates the U.S. has $13 billion in wastewater infrastructure. Fast Company explains how innovations in wastewater management using natural processes will change everything.

December 6 - Fast Company

In Maryland, the Washingtonian Tower has been the tallest skyscraper in Montgomery County. Developers in White Flint are proposing an even taller building that will incorporate mixed-use, transit-oriented, and retail/office development in one plan.

December 6 - Greater Greater Washington

In Maryland, the Montgomery County Park and Planning Commision received a $200,000 grant to study moving its offices. The County Executive, Ike Leggett says "its the best way to kick-start the revitalization of downtown Wheaton."

December 6 - Greater Greater Washington

In declaring Fort Monroe in Hampton, Virginia a National Monument, President Obama circumvents Congressional approval - which would be required to make it a National Park.

December 6 - City Parks Blog