The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
BLOG POST
Starbucks Initiative Could Brew Up Urban Vitality
<div> <br /> </div> <div> I am writing this missive from the living room of a Starbucks. Not that you'd care where I'm writing from. Except this time it's relevant. </div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div> Here on Montana Avenue, in Santa Monica, I'm joined by other folks who are also on their laptops, recovering from yoga, or just biding their time. The guy sitting at my table just sold a pilot to Fox. That's nice for him. A few weeks ago I sat next to Hillary Swank here. She's not hurting either. </div> <div> <br /> </div> <div> But others aren't so lucky. To its credit, Starbucks seems to want to do something about it. </div> <div> <br /> </div> <div>
The Challenge of City Branding
Branding a city, writes Scott Doyon, isn't as easy as creating a product brand. Cities already have identities, so a new brand can ring false if it isn't in harmony with reality. Case in point: Dunwoody, Georgia.
Poetry and the City
Poet Jon Cotner uses fleeting snippets of conversation in public spaces as the basis for his poetry. Caitlin Blanchfield took a walk with Cotner to talk about his process.
New Immigrants Not Moving to Cities
A report from the Brookings Institution finds that the growing population of foreign-born residents in the U.S. is eschewing larger cities, settling instead in suburbs and smaller cities.
Dept. Store Blocks Use of Easement to Stifle Competition
A Sears Shopping Center in Lincoln Park, Michigan has found a novel way to kill their competitor - close the easement the developer is using to access the property.
How Does CA HSR Project Move Forward Amid Challenges?
Wounded but far from dead, the WSJ examines the many problems plaguing California's formidable HSR project. With federal funding likely to be pulled by House Republicans, the Journal reports on the courses the project could take.
The Deceptive Business of City Rankings
A new report by planning consultant Zach Taylor exposes the politics behind the scenes of "Best Cities" lists. Taylor believes the motives behind all the parties involved are often not transparent.
Why the Suburban Exodus Hasn't Happened Yet
Greg Hanscom at Grist asks, if, as polls say, so many Millennials want to live in the city, why is the downtown resurgence a trickle rather than a flood?
China's Architectural Personality Crisis
Liu Yugie offers and considered and compelling analysis of the state of architecture in China today, and asks if "is China a playground for international architects or an abused testing ground for bad design?"
New Planning Law Will Protect Istanbul's Historic Views And Lines Of Sight
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality has announced a plan aimed at protecting the city's views by preventing construction of tall buildings in lines of sight and preventing illegal building construction.
Western Planners Swoop In To Attack Sao Paulo's 'Worm'
The Big Worm is a 2.2 mile elevated highway carving its way through South America's biggest city, carrying 80,000 vehicles a day past the bedroom windows of once elegant art deco apartment buildings.
Las Vegas Learns To Mow Its Own Lawn
Nevada has gone from having the lowest unemployment in the US in 2006 at 4% to the highest now at 13.4%. Once again Las Vegas is proving to be a reflection of the country's wider problems, where the top end of the market never dropped out.
FEATURE
The Surprising Rise of Minneapolis as a Top Bike Town
Despite its cold weather and spread-out development patterns, a Midwestern city beat Portland, San Francisco and Boulder for the title of #1 Bike City. Jay Walljasper explains how.
Americans Think Planning Process is Unfair
A new survey found that 64% of Americans think that the relationship between local officials and developers makes the approval process unfair.
Plan to Revitalize Public Housing Stymied by NYC Parking Requirements
New York City Housing Authority Chairman John Rhea says that the city's own parking minimums are making it difficult to make public housing sites more mixed-use, mixed-income and financially sustainable.
Innovative Public/Private Model to Revitalize a Downtown
Quincy, Massachusetts is planning to clear out 50 acres of its city center and build $1.3 billion in retail shops, offices, parking garages and more, plus $300m in new infrastructure. A new financial model is making it possible.
Rewarding Bikes and Peds for Leaving Their Cars at Home
How is the City of London incentivizing bike and ped commuters for helping improve the air? There's an App for that.
Fixing a "Psychological Moat" That Divides a City
South Carolina members of the Urban Land Institute met in Columbia, South Carolina to offer suggestions for overhauling Assembly Street, a major downtown thoroughfare that separates distinct areas of the urban core.
Reduced Toll Increase Continues NJ Bus Dead-Heading Problem
Because the Port Authority Bus Terminal lacks a garage, empty buses shuttle off to New Jersey for storage between the AM and PM commutes. The garage would have been funded by a higher toll, which NJ and NY governors rejected.
"Earthscraper" Beats Height Limits By Going Down Instead of Up
In the dense center of Mexico City, an architect has proposed a 65-story building - straight down.
New York City School Construction Authority
Village of Glen Ellyn
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
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