The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Reporter Jarrett Murphy gets behind the curtain to reveal that the Obama administration is actually doing quite a lot for cities - just very, very quietly.

January 6 - City Limits

Eli Broad, a powerful force in the Los Angeles art world, today unveils the design for a $130 million building that will house his personal contemporary art collection. Broad hopes it will help be part of a revitalization of downtown L.A.

January 6 - The Los Angeles Times

California Governor Jerry Brown is settling into his new office by taking on one of the state's most controversial laws: the property tax increase limits enforced by Proposition 13.

January 6 - Los Angeles Times

This video from the <em>BBC</em> takes a tour of a new winter festival in China in which a city of sculptures has been created out of ice.

January 6 - BBC

<em>Alternet</em> runs down a list of the five best policies enacted by cities in 2010.

January 6 - AlterNet

In his annual state-of-the-city speech, Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker highlighted what he sees as his most important accomplishment: a streetcar.

January 6 - Deseret News

The U.S. Census Bureau has released a new set of formulae that dramatically change the way poverty is determined in the U.S., leaving behind the one-size-fits-all approach in use since the 1960s.

January 6 - The Washington Post

In California, some worry that the state's aging delta levees are in extreme danger of being destroyed by earthquakes. And as environmental concerns rise, the state is considering plans to re-engineer its water supplies to prevent another "Katrina".

January 6 - Miller-McCune

Developers in China are pushing forward plans to build a 4-million-square-foot shopping mall as part of a major cultural center outside of Beijing's Central business district. It will be the biggest mall in the country.

January 6 - Baltimore Business Journal

A new video features urban explorer Steve Duncan as he adventures in the abandoned subway tunnels beneath New York City.

January 6 - Wired

BLOG POST

<p> I spent the last two weeks of December in Atlanta, living (mostly) with my parents.  My life in Atlanta is much more car-dependent than my life in Jacksonville; in the latter city, I live a block from a bus stop, while in Atlanta, I live at least a mile from the nearest bus stop (and more importantly, near no sidewalks to take me to said bus stop).  So naturally, I drove everywhere in Atlanta. </p> <p> And while driving, I noticed a couple of unusual things.  First, I noticed that unlike in my Jacksonville neighborhood, bicyclists actually tried to ride on the street rather than on sidewalks.*  Second, I noticed that I was beginning to get annoyed with bicyclists- to a much greater extent than I have ever been annoyed with pedestrians while driving. </p>

January 5 - Michael Lewyn

Prevailing wisdom is that transit mode and frequency of service is dependent on residential density, which leaves low density, outer suburbs in a lurch, instilling an auto-dependent lifestyle. Not so, says Australian researcher and author Paul Mees.

January 5 - The Age: Victoria

Tim Campbell of The Urban Age Institute says that the fastest way to gain knowledge about how cities work is to get out and visit other cities.

January 5 - Citiscope

New dedicated lanes and limited-stop buses have entered the transportation picture in New York City.

January 5 - The New York Times

A new road safety bill up for consideration in Washington would increase rules and regulations for motorists and cyclists.

January 5 - Seattle Post-Intelligencer

California Governor Jerry Brown has announced plans to reduce the state's budget gaps by possibly eliminating a wide array of projects and agencies, including the state's redevelopment agencies.

January 5 - The Sacramento Bee

Rick Harrison believes that city planning has turned into a faith-based series of architectural commandments that demonize the suburbs and cast out naysayers.

January 5 - New Geography

BLOG POST

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: small; font-family: 'Times New Roman'">In coming weeks doctoral applications in planning are due. Why apply? </span> </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: small; font-family: 'Times New Roman'">For professional planners, a PhD sometimes sounds interesting compared with doing a regular job in a municipality. Some designers remember studio professors who seemed to float into class, unprepared, for a few hours per week. Compared with the ups and downs of private design practice, this can seem quite appealing. Of course, some people genuinely like studying and research, want to make a contribution in that area, and have a flair for teaching. </span> </p>

January 5 - Ann Forsyth

Harvard GSD graduate Ju-Hyun Kim thinks we should be building amusement parks as skyscrapers, cutting down on the costly commute to the outside of town.

January 5 - Fast Company

MacDill Air Force Base has created a snarl of traffic in Tampa. Transportation planners are at a loss to find a solution so far.

January 5 - The St. Petersburg Times