The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

The Metropol Parasol sweeps majestically up out of the Plaza de la Encarnacion in Seville, Spain. The world's largest wooden structure, it was completed only last month.

May 10 - Yatzer

Harvard professor Edward Glaeser's Triumph of the City presents cool-headed analysis that largely confirms the theories that Jane Jacobs first advanced 40 years ago, says Adam Christian.

May 10 - California Planning & Development Report

Once the 8th largest city in the United States, Buffalo, NY is now ranked 70th (with 261,000 residents). After several failed attempts at urban renewal, the city leadership is trying a new approach - namely, to recast Buffalo as a college town.

May 10 - The New York Times

PricewaterhouseCoopers recently published the fourth edition of Cities of Opportunity. The report rates 26 cities in a range of categories (including transportation and infrastructure, for example) and then comes up with a master ranking.

May 10 - The Infrastructurist

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May 9 - Johanna Hoffman

U.S. DOT Secretary Ray LaHood announced this morning which high-speed rail projects would get funded out of the nearly 100 applications they received. The Northeast Corridor was again the big winner.

May 9 - U.S. Department Of Transportation

The UK-based Centre for Cities published a short report about the several ways that universities can affect local economic performance.

May 9 - Center for Cities

Tom Wright, Executive Director of the Regional Plan Association, traces the history of the Mayors' Institute on City Design from its creation 25 years ago to last week's conference which was attended by some of the country's most important mayors.

May 9 - Citiwire

Three architecture students from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo teamed to make this video which aims to show what an auto-free downtown LA could be.

May 9 - GOOD Magazine

FEATURE

Cities like Detroit can find the funds and initiative to make downsizing work by identifying as many stakeholders and potential partners as possible, writes Alison Bates, who thinks that "right-sizing" is the right move for the city.

May 9 - Alison Bates

Columnist Steve Berg thinks Minneapolis must be having an identity crisis. What else would explain the city seriously considering putting a casino downtown?

May 9 - The Minneapolis Post

A group of urban designers and architects descends on the ur-suburbia of Levittown. Alison Arieff writes that the urban academics doodled in the margins rather than serious tackle the issues raised by the suburban way of life.

May 9 - The New York Times

The 4-year-old Informed Growth Act required large retail stores in Maine to go through an extra hoop to analyze their potential adverse impact on the community. The Maine House repealed the act last week.

May 9 - The Morning Sentinel

In a surprise move, the California High-Speed Rail Authority is resurrecting a long-dead proposal to run the train over So Cal's Grapevine, bypassing Bakersfield and several desert towns.

May 9 - The Los Angeles Times

Greg Flisram reports on a unique 50s era suburban development in Madison, Wisconsin that has an unusual early design that is modest in size and sensitive to the environment.

May 9 - Metropolis Magazine

Urban planner James Rojas takes his public participation concept to Avondale, Arizona, encouraging people to be part of the urban design process through pipe cleaners, Legos and Tinkertoys.

May 9 - The Arizona Republic

Joel Kotkin says that despite the fashion for density among urban planners, the future relies on "dispersion" and focusing on developing small and mid-range cities.

May 8 - New Geography

A draft is circulating within the Beltway showing the president's transportation reauthorization bill. High Speed Rail is in, as is a 'Livability Program'. Goodby Highway Trust Fund - Hello Transportation Fund.

May 8 - D.C. Streetsblog

Zeppelin technologists have cracked one of the central barriers towards widespread use: the difficulty of staying bouyant while moving forward in a straight line.

May 8 - Popular Science

Cities of all population sizes were ranked by the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center. Key to top-rated Seattle was its management of parking. 19 cities were cited from throughout the country.

May 8 - The Atlantic Magazine