The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>As part of a new strategy to prevent deforestation in the Amazon, government officials in Brazil have begun seizing livestock that graze on illegal ranches.</p>

June 28 - The New York Times

<p>With unprecedented demand, Amtrak is hampered by years of neglect. The agency is unable to handle all the new customers resulting from high gas prices and plane tickets and is struggling to replace aged equipment and pay for increased fuel costs.</p>

June 28 - The New York Times

<p>Bohmte, Germany is following the lead of an EU program called "Shared Space", which recommends that cities remove traffic signals and find ways to encourage cars to share their space with pedestrians and bicyclists.</p>

June 28 - ABC News

<p>Philadelphia has struggled to deal with its large supply of derelict housing, and it serves as a lesson for lawmakers when they try to find ways to stop neighborhoods from deteriorating.</p>

June 28 - The Wall Street Journal

<p>This slideshow from <em>Popular Science</em> looks at some of the most heavily polluted cities in the world.</p>

June 28 - Popular Science

Not Fooling Anybody collects photos of former chain restaurants that have been awkwardly converted into ethnic restaurants, chiropractors, police stations, and more.

June 27 - Not Fooling Anybody

<p>Mike Davis wonders if the excesses of Dubai portend a rapidly-warming and deteriorating world of diverging urban fortunes, where a minority live in eco-friendly luxury, while most endure polluted squalor.</p>

June 27 - TomDispatch

<p>A recent conference in Austin, Texas, of real estate appraisers explored how they should incorporate green-building techniques and features into their assessment of properties.</p>

June 27 - Austin Business Journal

<p>A local nonprofit named SCRUB caught Pabst Brewing creating "guerrilla marketing" ads disguised as decorative murals in Philadelphia, a violation of sign restrictions.</p>

June 27 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

<p>Congress is promising to pass before Independence Day a sweeping set of housing legislation that would offer refinancing packages, a trust fund for affordable rental housing and offer tax credits for purchasing unoccupied houses.</p>

June 27 - The New York Times

<p>Joe White, who reports on the auto industry in Detroit, steps out his car and reflects on the city's mixed history of transit. To get the full picture, he tries to ride the bus himself.</p>

June 27 - Wall St. Journal

<p>Washington D.C.'s recent lift of its citywide handgun ban could signal a change for other cities with similar bans, like L.A. and Atlanta.</p>

June 27 - NPR

<p>Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's half-cent increase in the county's sales tax would create $30-$40 billion for transportation projects over the next 30 years, and could go before voters in November.</p>

June 27 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>This article from <em>Next American City</em> looks at escalators -- the expensive, energy-intensive, and often under-used transportation mode.</p>

June 27 - The Next American City

<p>By moving out to areas where planning approvals are faster, rapidly-expanding churches are creating suburban sprawl, according to a recent study from researchers at Ryerson University.</p>

June 27 - The Toronto Star

<p>Inventor, visionary, and architect Buckminster Fuller used design to tackle problems including homelessness and environmental degradation.</p>

June 26 - Democracy Now!

<p>Gentrification along Grand Avenue, the heart of Coconut's Grove Black and Bahamian community, has many residents fearing displacement and pushing for affordable housing inclusion.</p>

June 26 - The Miami Herald

<p>Steve Rose argues that the time may be ripe for a new respect for brutalism, the mid-century architectural movement that planners love to hate.</p>

June 26 - Art and Architecture

<p>Maryland's transit parking lots are overflowing into nearby neighborhoods, as buses, park-and-rides, and even their long-derided light rail, fill up.</p>

June 26 - The Baltimore Sun

<p>Architects are coming together to create innovative designs aimed at solving the world's tough humanitarian problems.</p>

June 26 - PBS: Frontline