The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Metro and 30 other transit agencies across the country may have to pay billions of dollars to large banks as years-old financing deals unravel, potentially hurting service for millions of bus and train riders, transit officials said yesterday.

October 28 - Washington Post

Russia's economic transformation due to its oil wealth is well-known, but not so the state of its public health which shows an alarming contrasting picture.

October 28 - The New York Times

The Modesto Bee does a thorough ranking of cities and town in California's Central Valley and how 'smart' their growth is. Oakdale, CA comes out on top, while Gustine is the dunce of the group.

October 27 - Modesto Bee

What was meant to be an icon for the city of Memphis has become a burden, as the city's pyramid-shaped sports and concert complex sits vacant and unused. The city is still trying to find a way to reuse it.

October 27 - The New York Times

In a new weekly column, Fred Pearce of The Guardian examines corporate and municipal claims to sustainability.

October 27 - The Guardian

That's how developers at Google describe the release of Google Earth for the iPhone. Boing Boing's Joel Johnson wonders why it wasn't released for Android first.

October 27 - Boing Boing

The first phase completed, the residents of North Augusta, SC contemplate the effect of New Urbanism on the neighborhood known as Hammond's Ferry.

October 27 - Augusta Chronicle

For the last ten years, the Army Corps of Engineers has been dredging the bottom of Boston Harbor in an effort to make more room for larger cargo ships. Dredging is almost complete on the project.

October 27 - The Boston Globe

Officials in China are moving to implement a handful of strategies to combat the housing slump, including tax breaks, smaller down-payment requirements and lower loan rates for first-time buyers.

October 27 - The Wall St. Journal

Officials in Toronto have decided to keep secret the locations of 90 security cameras installed on public buildings. Residents and union officials are outraged.

October 27 - Toronto Sun

A project to transform a municipal landfill into a terraced landscape wins high honors at the 2008 World Architecture Festival in Barcelona, Spain.

October 27 - CNN

FEATURE

October 27 - Nate Berg

The next president should take farming seriously and personally, according to Neal Pierce, who writes that rethinking the scale of food production is smart for regions, the environment and the economy.

October 27 - Citiwire

Some Canadian communities are seeing their local economies thriving despite -- or is it because of? -- the presence of Wal-Mart.

October 26 - Globe and Mail

In a trial run starting in December, monitors in one New York City subway station will display the exact location of every train on the line, giving riders a more accurate idea about how long they'll have to wait for the next train.

October 26 - The New York Times

BLOG POST

<p> <span style="font-size: xx-small; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana"><span style="font-size: 7pt">Out in the bar, the world as we know it was coming to an end. In the backroom, meanwhile, smart people were trying to figure out the future of suburbia.</span></span> </p> <p> <span style="font-size: xx-small; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana"><span style="font-size: 7pt">The bar was in the lobby of a classic desert resort in Arizona. On the TV, CNN was delivering headlines of imminent doom. It was the last days of September, and the foundations of American finance were cracking under the strains of default and distrust. </span></span> </p>

October 26 - Gordon Price

Income inequality in U.S. cities rivals that of many African cities, which struggle with deep divides between the haves and the have-nots, according to a recent report from the United Nations.

October 26 - Reuters

UNESCO has released a detailed map of the world's aquifers, a move the organization hopes will enable more intelligent use of natural resources.

October 26 - New Scientist

A single bike activist, tired of being honked at by motorists as they passed her in a narrow lane, lobbied her small city for a sign directing motorists to "change lanes to pass", and got it. Motorists have since ceased honking and changed lanes.

October 26 - The Examiner

Following the Ikea model, home builder John Sawyer is bringing a new -- and cheaper -- process to affordable housing in New Orleans.

October 25 - The Christian Science Monitor