The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Developing Detroit's New Comprehensive Plan
The city of Detroit is looking to create a comprehensive plan for rethinking the struggling city. <em>Next American City</em> talks with the officials heading the effort about the challenges they face.
Backing the Infrastructure Bank
The <em>Los Angeles Times</em> is standing behind President Barack Obama's recently announced infrastructure bank proposal, but not just because it could boost transit in L.A.
Does Transportation Funding Violate the Civil Rights Act?
The Great City blog argues that Washington State's 18th Amendment "violates the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964, perpetuating discrimination in the state's transportation system."
Subway (and Subway Riders) To Heat Apartment Building
Heat emitting from riders of the Paris Metro and from the subway trains will heat 17 apartments in a new system debuting in France.
Obama Calls For $50 Billion Transportation Stimulus
Calling it an investment plan in job growth in the transportation sector, the President in a Labor Day speech outlined a six-year plan for investment in road, rail, and airports to be paid for by eliminating tax breaks and subsidies from big oil.
Sharing the Civic Commons
Civic Commons is a new non-profit that facilitates the sharing of information and knowledge on open city initiatives for open, data-driven, and collaborative city services.
Can A City Function on Low Taxes?
Colorado Springs, Colorado has some of the lowest property taxes in the nation, and its heavily right-wing residents like it that way. But with the recession, the lack of tax income is causing some heavy cuts to city services.
The Economic Benefit of Density
Richard Florida says that the economic benefits of 'agglomeration' are seldom given the attention they deserve. A new study by Florida and the Martin Prosperity Institute aims to do just that.
Brownfields Into Beaches
Alex Bozikovic hits the beach with his son at a new public space in Toronto: Sugar Beach, an urban park built on a former industrial site.
The Best Cities and Towns for College
The American Institute of Economic Research ranks the best cities and towns in which to attend college, using academic achievement, quality of life, and professional opportunities as factors.
Pedestrian-Only Zone Proposed for San Diego
With the centennial of the Panama-California Exposition that created San Diego's Balboa Square approaching, the city is considering turning back the neighborhood to its former car-free glory.
The Myth of the City
In this essay from Lapham's Quarterly, Lewis Lapham muses on the nature of the city: how it is perceived, by whom and for whom; and how it incubates new ideas and facilitates democracy.
Cambodia Joins Skyscraper Race to the Top
Cambodia has announced that it will build a new skyscraper that will be the tallest in Asia at 1,820 feet. Fast Company asks, why, in the face of grueling poverty, would they do such a thing?
Holograms Used To Make Drivers More Aware
The City of West Vancouver is piloting a new program to help drivers slow down for the back to school season: they are projecting a hologram onto the road featuring a young girl running after a ball to call attention to driving safety.
Freeways Going Green
Dallas, Texas is building a new park on a deck over the Woodall Rodgers Freeway, a strategy for creating new public spaces that is being tried across the country.
Southern CA MPO Snubs Air Board By Reducing Emissions Targets
The Southern California Association of Governments rebuffed the CA Air Resources Board by deliberately setting lower targets for greenhouse gas emissions per SB 375, the 2008 law intended to reduce GHG emissions from transportation.
BLOG POST
Dear Uncle Sam: Transit Design Really Does Matter
<p> <span style="line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt"><span style="font-family: Calibri">Over the past decade more than $75 billion in public dollars has been invested in rail transit. Los Angeles, Seattle and Denver alone are investing an additional $65 billion to expand their systems and enhance the livability of their communities. The federal government will be asked to play a major role in funding each of those systems. Up until now the federal role in major transit investments has largely avoided the question of how we ought to design our transit systems to be good neighbors and leverage livable communities. </span></span> </p>
The Visions of Paolo Soleri: Dimmed, But Still Hanging in There
In 1970, visionary architect Paolo Solieri began envisioned a utopian city in Arizona. The resulting development, Arcosanti, and its architect have struggled for relevancy ever since.
Humongous Tree Irks Neighbors
The front yard of a home in suburban Plymouth, England is completely enveloped by a leylandii tree. Neighbors say it's an eyesore, the owner says he's being unfairly targeted.
Shifting Federal Transportation Dollars to Create More Jobs
Shifting federal transportation dollars to transit projects could help create up to 180,000 jobs and not raise the federal deficit, according to a new report.
City of Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
