The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

A half-cent sales tax increase to fund transit passed handily yesterday in St. Louis County, Missouri.

April 7 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Carol Coletta explains how improving education, lowering VMT and alleviating poverty by as little as 1% each could mean billions of dollars for cities.

April 7 - The Urbanophile

Which is more important? A family farm settled by free African-Americans 200 years ago has a grant for historic preservation, but lies over a vast reserve of natural gas.

April 7 - National Trust For Historic Preservation

There are more extreme commuters (a minimum of 1.5 hrs round trip) than ever, with a 95% increase since 1990, says Michael Graham Richard at Treehugger.

April 7 - Treehugger

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood explains the new emphasis on 'livable and sustainable communities', and walking and biking, calling it a 'game changer' in this short but informative Q & A with the New York Times in its Green Inc. blog.

April 7 - The New York Times - Green Inc. blog

Roscoe, Texas is a rural town that was declining by degrees for decades, with a fierce wind that made crops difficult. A local started a wind farm business and the town is turning around, turning its curse into a blessing.

April 7 - NEWS21

<em>Treehugger</em> lists five of the coming innovations that experts expect to revolutionize urban bicycling.

April 7 - Treehugger

<em>The Infrastructurist</em>'s Melissa Lafsky is a guest on Fox Business News to discuss what role, if any, Amtrak will play in the U/S/ high speed rail network.

April 7 - The Infrastructurist

The idea of urban farming has gone from fringe to functional, with backyards plots and small infill operations teeming across North America. Lloyd Alter takes a look at the trend.

April 7 - Azure Magazine

A panel of experts at a ULI Los Angeles came together to talk best practices for transit-oriented development. Their recommendations include better security, improved connectivity, and yes, more parking.

April 6 - The Ground Floor (ULI)

Toronto's former chief planner Paul Bedford asked his students at Ryerson University to present 100-year plans to re-imagine Toronto.

April 6 - The Toronto Star

During the 17 days of the Winter Olympics, Vancouver significantly beefed up its transit offerings and reduced lanes for automobiles. Did the experiment work, and what would happen if these temporary changes were made permanent?

April 6 - re:place Magazine

Portland has them. So does Charlotte. But in the nation's capital, streetcar overhead wires are under fire from historic preservationists.

April 6 - Washington Post

The recent World Urban Forum in Brazil attracted media from around the world, but surprisingly few from the U.S. But as Neal Peirce writes, that doesn't mean the U.S. government wasn't involved.

April 6 - Citiwire

Thomas L. Millette looks back at how far GIS has come, and how it has become an essential tool for urban planning.

April 6 - Planning Commissioners Journal

This op-ed from <em>The Detroit Free Press</em> looks at ambitious goals for the city ten years into the future, and argues that citizens will need to start acting soon to turn those dreams into reality.

April 6 - The Detroit Free Press

For electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles to really take off, there needs to be a coordinated effort between planners, developers and the utilities to ensure the infrastructure is in place. Some Canadian cities are already taking action.

April 6 - The Globe and Mail

Thanks in part to federal grants, wheelchair-accessible taxi service is available in most major American cities - San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C., but not in Philadelphia, where the issue is stalled in the statehouse.

April 6 - Philadelphia Daily News

Nearly five years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, the bungled recovery effort offers lessons to Haiti and Chile as they recover from more recent natural disasters, according to this piece from Allison Arieff.

April 6 - The New York Times

AARP takes a comprehensive looks at streetcars, exploring their past demise, comeback, and now spreading to as many as 40 cities. Special attention is given to the Portland Streetcar and how the streetcar enables better mobility for seniors.

April 6 - AARP Bulletin Today