The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Joel Kotkin argues that planners too often ignore "the most critical issue" in housing.

January 29 - Forbes

Do you know the difference between taxis and livery cars? This op-ed by a taxi driver/author explains the difference. It is timely because Mayor Bloomberg will propose a rule that will make the two more similar, and (yellow) cab drivers oppose it.

January 29 - The New York Times - Opinion

Portlandia is a new TV show spoofing the self-righteously urban culture of Portland. In this clip, a hyper bicycle rights activist zips around the city decrying the evils of automobiles.

January 28 - My Damn Channel

At the subway stop at Wilshire Blvd. and Vermont, developer Jerry Snyder halted construction on his planned vertical retail mall, saying that the apartment market is comparatively "very strong."

January 28 - The Los Angeles Times

Suburban Waukesha seeks to be the first city to pipe water from the Great Lakes since the 2008 Great Lakes Pact. But will approval just mean more sprawl in a sprawling region?

January 28 - Streetsblog Capitol Hill

Beatville is a new "open source, multi-player environment for real cities", which purports to be a useful tool for democratizing urban planning.

January 28 - Urban Omnibus

Barun Roy says that some of the most adventurous, bizarre and impractical architecture is being built in Asia.

January 28 - Business Standard

In the heart of Koreatown in Los Angeles, an experimental community took over 2 apartment complexes in the '90s. Today, it's a thriving group of folks trying to live greenly in the big city.

January 28 - GOOD Magazine

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky has introduced a new bill proposing to completely defund the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

January 28 - HousingWire

The Regional Plan Association has released a $15 billion proposal to expand capacity at congested Kennedy and Newark Liberty International Airports by 50 million passengers per year.

January 28 - The New York Times

Wendell Cox looks at which U.S. cities saw the greatest gains (and losses) to per capita income from 2000 to 2010.

January 28 - New Geography

In what looks like a developing battle between states and cities over redevelopment, the California state comptroller announced that he will audit 18 redevelopment agencies.

January 28 - Los Angeles Times

A new study of federal data on fatalities per 100,000 people and per 100 million miles driven finds significant differences in urban and rural roads.

January 27 - USA Today

Karl Chu sees a future of architecture that combines artificial intelligence and biological processes resulting in fantastical organic buildings.

January 27 - IEET blog

Two Staten Island Republicans want to throw a wrench in the city's bike lane boom by requiring environmental review for all new lanes. Experts explain why that's a bad idea.

January 27 - Streetsblog

Haitian government hires planners who propose a better urban environment than existed prior to the devastating earthquake.

January 27 - New Urban Network

China plans to create the world's largest mega-city, which will be geographically 26 times larger than Greater London and double that of Wales.

January 27 - The Telegraph

Mayors across the country are facing the possible loss of federal Community Development Block Grants, which could pull many local projects aimed at helping low-income residents to a halt.

January 27 - Governing

Two soccer teams in England are in the midst of a battle over who will take over the stadium being built for the 2012 Olympics in London. They're arguing over who will leave the better legacy.

January 27 - The Guardian

When Los Angeles drained Owens Lake to bring water into its quickly growing urban basin, it simultaneously created a dry lakebed and one of the worst dust pollution problems in America. Various efforts to fight the problem have only failed.

January 27 - Places