The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

New York Passes Smart Growth Bill

Governor David Paterson signed The Smart Growth Public Policy Infrastructure Policy Act on Monday, which directs the state to invest in infrastructure in dense communities rather than sprawling ones.

September 1 - New Urban Network

Suburban Living With Urban Amenities

Bill Fulton visits his family in Rockville, Maryland, and discovers that a young family looking for suburban space can find it within walking distance of the library, the Metro stop, and mixed-use development.

September 1 - California Planning & Development Report

Bikesharing Coming Soon to D.C.

Capitol Bikeshare will launch in September with over a thousand bikes. ReadsetDC goes behind the scenes to see the bikes and infrastructure as it is assembled.

September 1 - ReadysetDC

The Big Digs of the 21st Century

Jerry Soverinsky picks the most ambitious transportation projects of the century so far, from a tunnel in Turkey to an ice road in Canada.

September 1 - AOL Travel

The Scuffle Over "Livability"

Representative Earl Blumenauer talks about the recent defeat of livability programs in the Transportation Appropriations Bill.

September 1 - The Planning Report


Flooding Devastates Pakistan's Infrastructure

With 62,000 square miles of the country flooded and affected by monsoons, Pakistan's infrastructure is expected to be set back for years.

September 1 - The New York Times

Growing Pains in Livable Singapore

Singapore, one of the world's most livable cities, is facing a population boom that some say will give the city a crowded and unpleasant future. Recent weather-related destruction highlight some of its growing pains.

September 1 - Yahoo


Bus Riders Union Blasts L.A.'s 30/10 Plan

A proposal in L.A. to use recently approved funding to push 30 years of transportation projects into the next decade has elicited a protest from the city's Bus Riders Union.

September 1 - Streetsblog L.A.

The Light Rail Diet

A new study from The Journal of Preventative Medicine says that drivers in Charlotte, North Carolina who switched to riding the Lynx Light Rail lost an average of 6 1/2 pounds.

August 31 - The National Library of Medicine

Community-Supported Businesses on the Rise

Stacy Mitchell reports on the growing trend of micro-financing, where small business people turn to the local community to get the funding they need to open restaurants or small shops.

August 31 - Yes! Magazine

BLOG POST

Plans, Places, and Processes: Do You Need to Travel to Understand Them?

<span style="widows: 2; text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; border-collapse: separate; font: medium 'Times New Roman'; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; letter-spacing: normal; color: #000000; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px" class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px" class="Apple-style-span"> <p class="MsoNormal"> <span>In recent blogs I have written about places and plans in many different locales and through time. Students often ask, “do I need to visit places to know about them”?

August 31 - Ann Forsyth

FedEx Testing Electric Tricycles for Deliveries

The global courier has transformed the way packages are delivered around Paris by deploying large eco-friendly tricycles that go beyond the curb.

August 31 - TheCityFix

Is New Orleans Ready for the Next Katrina?

Five years after Hurricane Katrina, Amber Angelle reports on some of the steps taken to prepare New Orleanse for the next major hurricane in terms of levees, infrastructure and emergency management.

August 31 - The Christian Science Monitor

London's Not-So-Super Cycle Highways

<em>This Big City</em> takes a ride on one of London's new bicycle Superhighways, and finds some room for improvement.

August 31 - This Big City

Google Creates Affordable Housing Fund

Google has invested $86 million in a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit fund to create 480 affordable rental housing units for low income families.

August 31 - TechCrunch

Honolulu Law Would Reduce Construction Waste

Legislation working its way through the Honolulu City Council could require construction companies doing work in the Hawaiian city to recycle or reuse as much as 60% of construction materials.

August 31 - Pacific Business News

Heavy Rail to Link Denver and Airport

Work has begun on a long-sought rail line linking downtown Denver to the city's international airport.

August 31 - USA Today

Finalists Chosen in Redesign Bid for Decommissioned Airport

Six finalists have been chosen in a bid to redesign Berlin's decommissioned Tempelhof Airport. The airport is currently open as a park, but the city wants a more formal redesign.

August 31 - Der Spiegel

Tolling Heads to Georgia Interstate

A toll lane is coming to a Georgia interstate highway -- a first for the state.

August 31 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

BLOG POST

The Search for Scientific Validation: When Our Feelings Are Just Not Good Enough

<!--StartFragment--><p style="margin-bottom: 14pt; line-height: 16pt" class="MsoNormal">Planners are taught to be analytical thinkers who use quantitative data, but also qualitative research. Remember the Myers Briggs personality test? It assesses an individual’s personality based on four preferences: A focus on the outer world (extraversion) or inner world (introversion); basic information (sensing) or interpretation and meaning (intuition); making decision based on logic (thinking) or people and special circumstances (feeling); dealing with the outside world with clear decisions (judging) or staying open to new information and options (perceiving).<span>  </span>As planners, we are constantly in conflict with these preferences as we straddle the world of technician and analyst.

August 30 - Melissa Hege

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