The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
What Do Good Public Spaces Look Like?
Deborah Marton, Executive Director of the Design Trust for Public Space, asks, "Obviously public space should be beautiful and well designed for circulation, but what else should it do?"
LaHood's Pitch To Florida: Go Forward With HSR
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wrote a major address to the nation in support of high speed rail that appeared in Florida's Orlando Sentinel. Streetsblog notes the significance of that paper in light of events in Wisconsin and Ohio.
Retail Outlook Improving, Fewer Stores Closing
And more stores are opening, according to Retail Traffic Magazine. An estimated 35,000 new stores are predicted to open in 2011, while closings will likely be less than last year.
Gas Price Shooting To $3.75/gallon
A tweet from the FuelFix folks indicates that gas prices may reach $3.75 in the spring having passed the crucial oil price of $90 a barrel earlier this month. Already gas prices are the highest on record for any December.
Christmas Downtown is Saved
Downtown Elizabethtown, North Carolina is in the middle of a huge redevelopment project, and customers were avoiding the mess causing a blue Christmas for shopowners. City Hall stepped in and put a hold on revitalization, and Santa is back in town.
South and West Get More Influential
Yonah Freemark says that new Census data is revealing that the South and West are growing while the Midwest and East are shrinking, which could signal a shift in policy from traditionally urban areas to more exurban-centric regions.
Crowdsourcing the City
"Give a Minute" is a program that seeks ideas for fixing cities directly from the people who use them, using ads in newspapers and displays in public spaces to ask a big question, such as "What would get you to walk, bike or take transit more often?"
Niagara Falls, New York: The Epitome of Bad Urban Planning
An extensive piece in Bloomsburg BusinessWeek uncovers the bad ideas and worse decisions that led to the downfall of Niagara Falls, New York. Step one? Replacing the historic downtown with "a bunch of modernist follies."
Is SimCity Behind the Times?
Transportation consultant Garrett Walker asks, "Is SimCity still making us stupid?" Walker jumps into the Rush Hour 4 Expansion Pack to see if the user is rewarded for contemporary planning techniques or outdated, autocentric ideas.
'Urban Farming 2.0' Takes Off
CNN looks at the next wave in urban agriculture: commercial-scale indoor farms that are hydroponic, climate controlled, and LED-lit.
S.F. to Shutter Lone Fossil Fuel Power Plant
After years of debate, San Francisco plans to close the diesel- and natural gas-burning Potrero Hill Plant, one of the dirtiest facilities in California, by January 1, reports John Coté.
Unusual Findings from Census 2010
Laurent Belsie takes a first look at some unexpected results from Tuesday's data release.
Mapping Demographic Change in the West
<em>High Country News</em> offers a look at the Western U.S., based on recently released data from the U.S. Census Bureau, using a mapping tool from <em>The New York Times</em>.
Re-Engineering Public Housing in Atlanta
Public housing remains one of the major dysfunctional elements in U.S. welfare policy. But in Atlanta, one innovative administrator is changing the game.
Beatles Crosswalk Gains Historic Protection
The crosswalk pictured on the cover of the Beatles' album Abbey Road has been designated a historic place in London.
Ohio and Wisconsin's HSR Loss is California's Gain
By refusing federal stimulus funds for high speed rail projects in their states, incoming Republican governors in Midwest gifted California over $600 million in new funding for the state's planned 800-mile network, says the Fresno Bee.
D.C. Juggles Overhead Wires and Historic Views
Washington D.C. is planning to build a citywide streetcar network, but the overhead wires required for those plans would affect the city's historic views.
Bogota's TransMilenio Turns 10
Bogota's integrated mass transit system has been operation for a decade and continues to grow, but faces challenges for the coming years, from the constant growth in ridership to irregularities in construction contracts.
Big Boxes Going Urban
Big box retailers are continuing to target urban markets, and finding new ways to squeeze their large sizes into dense urban settings.
Gov 2.0 Grows
Gov 2.0 is on the rise, and an increasing amount of cities and groups are getting behind efforts to improve the way cities function by better processing their data.
City of Clovis
City of Moorpark
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
