The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Recovery or Rerun?
A new government-sponsored watchdog website will allow citizens to track stimulus-funded projects. It's an effort to insure accountability. Neal Pierce wonders if that accountability will translate into smarter patterns of development.
How to Become an Expert Transit Rider
This commentary from <em>re:place</em> magazine offers tips and insights into how one can ride transit like a pro.
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Architecture's Big Bang
<p> <span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman">Architecture is certainly headed for its own version of the Big Bang. A density of firms are simmering with scarce backlog, delinquent collections, looming layoffs, high overhead, low morale as weakened management relies on a foggy stimulus package to forestall an explosion of great magnitude. After the inevitable, our profession will reconstitute based on a new chemistry.
L.A. Football Stadium Unanimously Approved
The Los Angeles suburb of Industry has approved plans to build a stadium in the city in hopes of luring a football team back to the L.A. area.
Obama Budget A Boon For New York
The new federal budget represents a broad increase in funding for urban programs. New York in particular is to benefit greatly from the new spending plan.
Denver Gets TOD Fund
The City of Denver plans to spend more than $15 million over the next decade to purchase real estate near mass transit.
Sprawl A Major But Ignored Factor in Infrastructure Costs
The federal stimulus package has made infrastructure into a hot topic among states. But, as Mary Newsom writes, states are not addressing the land use patterns that drive up the costs and bring down the efficiency of infrastructure.
Midwest Expecting High Speed Rail Windfall From Stimulus
The Midwest has high hopes on capturing a big chunk of the federal stimulus money directed towards high speed rail projects.
Brazil Looks to Land Titles to Protect Amazon
A new plan is taking form in Brazil to regularize titles to rainforest land -- an effort the government hopes will fight deforestation.
Growth and Un-Growth in Arizona
A boomtown in the desert that was expected to grow in population to more than 350,000 by 2020 is going bust, and putting things in perspective as the economy dives and foreclosures spread.
Slum Tourism Debated
This piece ponders whether slum tourism in places like Dharavi and the favelas of Brazil is a valid form of cultural exchange or merely voyeuristic exploitation?
HUD's Budget Money
This brief from the <em>New York Times</em> outlines how federal budget money will be used by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Preserving Brutalism
At Yale, a modernist landmark is preserved and revitalized. Ada Louise Huxtable looks at the challenges in updating the harshness of brutalist architecture.
Edmonton's $100 Million Bike Plan
Edmonton Alberta is planning to go from a "somewhat bike friendly city to a very bike friendly city." But can it afford it during a recession?
Mapping the Future of Energy in B.C.
A mapping project has laid out a blueprint for the location of new green energy sites in British Columbia. Officials are hoping it will help guide the province towards more sustainable growth, but others worry it will encourage sprawl.
New York City to Reclaim Broadway For Pedestrians
Mayor Bloomberg and Janette Sadik-Khan have unveiled plans to turn a large segment of midtown into a pedestrian-only thoroughfare. The bold move is being applauded by livable street advocates across the United States.
Bissecting California
Ex-assemblyman Bill Maze is backing a plan to divide California in two, separating conservative Central California from the liberal coast. This is the 27th attempt on record to divide the state.
As Gas Prices Drop, VMT Rises
Sightline's Clark Williams-Derry looks at low gas prices, a down economy, and vehicle-miles-traveled, noting that the precipitous declines in VMT have halted, and suspects it may plateau.
Is Mayor Bloomberg Feeling Squeezed?
Starting with a tony 5-floor, 7,500 square foot townhouse on the Upper East Side, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg has quietly bought 4 of the 6 neighboring townhouse apartments and combined them into what is now a 12,500 square foot mansion.
Mall Struggling, New Look Not Enough
Wyoming Valley Mall in Wilkes-Barre, PA is fighting to stay relevant to shoppers by bringing in local retailers, updating the design with an $8 million makeover, and bringing in more restaurants and theaters.
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.
