The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

BLOG POST

<p> In a recent blog post (at http://www.planetizen.com/node/44518) Steven Polzin argues that drivers are more productive because they get places faster.  His post, in turn, generated an avalanche of critiques noting the negative externalities of auto travel (e.g. pollution, death and injury from traffic accidents, health costs of obesity, etc.). </p> <p> But what I&#39;d like to address is something else: the positive productivity benefits of transit use.  Let&#39;s suppose that it takes me 30 minutes to reach destination X on the bus, and 15 minutes by car.  Obviously, the car is more productive.  Right? </p>

June 5 - Michael Lewyn

Nature writer David Oates embeds himself in green, urban Portland and finds much to like about the green city movement but also much room for improvement.

June 5 - Orion

Why would the nation's major public transit organization work so closely with America' major road lobbying group, even when it comes to opposing landmark climate legislation aimed at reducing 33% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from transportation?

June 5 - theTransportPolitic

The 150-year-old Staten Island Railway is one of the NYC Transit Authority's little known gems. There's no charge if you travel between any of the 20 intermediary stations. It serves the St. George Ferry Terminal for the ferry trip to Manhattan.

June 5 - Staten Island Real-Time News

Ads for automobiles have depicted their vehicles swooping through dramatic natural landscapes, but as Catherine Lutz and Anne Lutz Fernandez note, car ads have moved into the city.

June 5 - The Huffington Post

More than 100 photographers were set out on the streets of New York as part of a six month project to document the changes the city has gone through over the past decade.

June 5 - The Architect's Newspaper

Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, was planned by the Russian government in the 1950s with extensive infrastructure and lush city parks. That infrastructure is deteriorating, while more of the nomadic population move to the city to survive.

June 4 - POLIS

A new study by the American College of Sports Medicine says so, due to low rates of diabetes, obesity and several other factors. Oklahoma City is not OK, however; it's at the bottom of the list.

June 4 - Health News

With the departure of department head Adolpho Carrion, the role of the new Office of Urban Affairs is in question. With a small budget and a staff of four, can Urban Affairs make an impact?

June 4 - The Architect's Newspaper

Chicago is using pervious pavements and reflective materials on its 1,900 miles of alleys to reduce flooding, cut demand on storm sewers, and decrease the city's urban heat island effect. The program is so successful that they are expanding it.

June 4 - Public Roads

A new report from PolicyLink presents strategies for keeping out bad land investment, such as when buyers "mothball" the property -- holding on to it without improving it -- bringing down the quality of the community.

June 4 - Next American City

A new report about how New York City should react and adapt to climate change raises ideas and questions about what other large cities should do to prepare themselves for a changing climate.

June 4 - Fast Company

Search giant Google has mapped the location of every WiFi network in Britain. Some say the collection of this information is a violation of privacy.

June 4 - Telegraph

BLOG POST

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri">One of the most widely cited numbers in contemporary transportation media coverage and policy discussions is the cost of congestion estimates that Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) annually produces as part of the Urban Mobility Report series. <span> </span><span> </span>The 2009 version of that report (</span><a href="http://mobility.tamu.edu/ums/)"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri">http://mobility.tamu.edu/ums/)</span></a><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Calibri"> <span> </span>shows an estimate of the cost of congestion of $87.4 Billion for the top 439 U.S.

June 4 - Steven Polzin

This post from <em>The City Fix</em> looks at some of the new public transit systems that have been built in South Africa ahead of this year's World Cup.

June 4 - The City Fix

To help change the pattern of development in Russian cities, free courses are being offered to local architects about solving the problems facing the countries growing urban areas.

June 4 - The Moscow Times

Boyce Thompson of Builder Magazine says that the newer floor models from homebuilders purposely understate their amenities to create the perception of value.

June 4 - Builder Magazine

BLOG POST

<!--StartFragment--><p class="MsoNormal">I have to admit, listening to Peter Lovenheim talk about his book “In the Neighborhood, The Search for Community on an American Street, One Sleepover at a Time”, spiked my planner’s radar. In his novel, the journalist, quite intentionally, well, the title is self-explanatory isn’t it? It sounded a bit hokey and contrived at first, as did the interview. Lovenheim explained that the only way to truly get to know someone and develop a real sense of intimacy and bond was to sleep in their home and shadow them for the day. But the real story is about the loss of intimacy and comfort among neighbors.

June 3 - Melissa Hege

Cities around the world are trying to undo decades of car-oriented planning. Lester Brown takes a look at the trend and finds some models for other global cities to follow.

June 3 - Grist

A new video from <em>Urban Omnibus</em> explores life in five New York neighborhoods, delving into the daily interactions between people and the built environment.

June 3 - Urban Omnibus