The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

BLOG POST

Why Don't We Get Plugged and Eschew (Gasoline)?

<p> When I inherited the Hoboken Parking Utility last year, it was hobbling along with all of the forward planning of a Friday night Rock-and-Bowl last call.  With no time to build a new budget from the bottom up, I was left to remold what I found into something a little less status-quo and a little more innovative.  In a scrutinizing political climate and tough economic conditions, the changes had to be both necessary and serve as an example of ways to reduce costs. </p>

April 6 - Ian Sacs

The Lost Faith of City Planning

Witold Rybczynski says that people have lost their faith in city-driven urban planning, and that the private marketplace is driving the changes we need today.

April 5 - Slate

Guerrilla Sharrows

In Los Angeles, wheat-pasted posters that indicate bike lanes have been cropping up on utility boxes all over the city.

April 5 - GOOD Magazine

Residents Get More Say in Redevelopment

A scandal over bonuses and the recession leads to change in project to redevelop Southeast San Diego, but some critics want to see more construction, not just kumbaya.

April 5 - San Diego Union Tribune

The Role of Polls in Planning

When two polls on transportation policy come to conflicting conclusions, reporter Lisa Caruso wonders what the value is of surveying the public on policy matters.

April 5 - National Journal Online


Plandemonium in New Orleans

After Katrina, the entire city of New Orleans had an opinion on how planning should move forward. With many groups intervening and making recommendations, is there too much planning going on?

April 5 - The Design Observer

Texas Toll Roads Go Cash Free

North Texas Tollway (NTTA) has announced their intention to go all electronic for their toll roads by the end of the year, and Florida will soon follow.

April 5 - TOLLROADSnews


BLOG POST

Way-To-Go Vancouver Olympics - Lessons For Transport Planners

<p> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt">The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and Paralympics are over now. City Planner <a href="/user/10088"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none">Brent Toderian</span></a> described in a recent Planetizen blog how the event showcased <a href="/node/43096">Vancouver’s Urbanism</a>, including the quality of its neighborhoods, streets and public transit system, and the delight of a shared community experience.</span> </p> <p> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt"><img src="http://www.daily-jeff.com/images/media/20100213/photos/d505f58a8fe6bcfb05fe5c41c92152dd9d647e8b_oly2.jpg" width="358" height="212" /></span> </p>

April 5 - Todd Litman

Combined NHTSA & EPA Standards for New Cars Issued

Normally fuel economy standards are set by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Due to the 2007 Supreme Court ruling on the Clean Air Act, the new rules are jointly issued by the EPA to regulate tailpipe emissions as well as CAFE.

April 5 - Union Of Concerned Scientists

How Fungi Can Restore the Land

Mycologist Paul Stamets believes that mycelium, a fungi, could be integral to restoring damaged soil, repairing habitats, and even cleaning brownfields.

April 5 - Design Under Sky

Banking Regulation, Not Real Estate Reregulation, Saved Texas

Texas' strict banking regulation may be partially responsible for its economic health.

April 5 - The Big Money

FEATURE

What Can A Planner Learn From 2 Hours on Chatroulette?

Jennifer Evans-Cowley, Phd, AICP, spends a couple of hours exploring the phenomenon that is chatroulette.com. Chatroulette sets you up to videochat with a complete stranger. Are there applications for the future of public participation in planning?

April 5 - Jennifer Evans-Cowley

Is My City Shrinking?

Justin B. Hollander at Tufts University looks at the increasing shrinkage of cities like Flint, Michigan and Youngstown, Ohio and the myriad strategies these cities are taking to shrink effectively.

April 5 - Cityscape

Homebuyers Want Spaces, Not Rooms

A new survey of buyer preferences says that most would be more practical and make sacrifices like giving up the upstairs laundry room.

April 4 - The Los Angeles Times

Toronto "Squandering" Stadium Opportunity

So says Ken Greenberg, a noted urban designer who resigned from the project after the city began moving forward with a conventional stadium plan rather than an urban facility with a mix of uses.

April 4 - The Toronto Star

Neighborhood to City: Project Is Too Suburban

Here's one you don't find often - a neighborhood may sue the city of Sacramento for approving an infill project they categorize as 'too suburban and car-oriented', while the city council woman extolls the infill qualities, citing SB 375 and AB 32.

April 4 - The Sacramento Bee - City News

Cities Gaining People? Hardly

Aaron Renn, The Urbanophile, argues that the stats actually show that cities are losing people in their urban cores, not gaining them.

April 4 - New Geography

Following Through on Affordable Housing Mandate

Westchester County, NY has a mandate to spread its affordable housing into wealthier neighborhoods instead of just clumping it in poorer ones. But making it happen is a challenge.

April 4 - The New York Times

General Plans Getting Increasingly Specific

As cities like Long Beach and Santa Monica get more focused on urban design, their general plans become more and more proscriptive.

April 3 - The Architect's Newspaper

CNN: The New Urban Century

CNN turns its eye to the world of urban and transportation planning, highlighting five cities that are moving towards a more sustainable, urban-centric lifestyle.

April 3 - CNN

Post News

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.

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.