The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>London's new mayor is considering a plan to tone down the city's congestion charge system, reducing fees during certain hours.</p>

July 10 - The Times (UK)

FEATURE

July 10 - Ellen Gould and Andrew Pask

<p>Officials in Africa have approved a plan to plant a "wall of trees" across the continent to prevent the southward spread of the Sahara desert due to winds and drought.</p>

July 10 - Environmental News Network

<p>Lacking good public transit connections, residents of Red Hook, New York are taking advantage of the free bus and water taxi service recently launched by the Swedish retail giant to bring customers to its new store in the neighborhood.</p>

July 9 - New York Daily News

BLOG POST

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman">The newest Drew Carey video at </span><a href="http://www.reason.tv/"><span style="font-size: small; color: #800080; font-family: Times New Roman">Reason.tv</span></a><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman">—</span><a href="http://www.reason.tv/video/show/451.html"><span style="font-size: small; color: #800080; font-family: Times New Roman">Mexicans and Machines: Why Its Time to Lay Off NAFTA</span></a><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman">—is (IMHO) brilliant, and triggered more than a couple of thoughts about how technology and progress creates practical challenges for planning. </span> </p>

July 9 - Samuel Staley

<p>How often does one hear that transit is somehow a less respectable form of transportation than driving because of the "massive subsidies" transit receives? Well, a new study by Texas DOT says that highways don't pay for themselves either.</p>

July 9 - la.streetsblog.org

<p>Stakeholders in Austin debate the future of a public golf course in the center of town while the University of Texas, owner of the land, debates whether to seek greater profits off the land. Neighbors champion the course as vital open space.</p>

July 9 - Austin American-Statesman

<p>The 'Nano', a tiny car that gets 47 miles to the gallon and has low emissions, is hitting the Indian market. Environmentalists worry that the car's advantages will be outweighed by the increase in car ownership it may bring to the country.</p>

July 9 - NPR

<p>Conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer notes high gas prices are doing what Congress has taken decades to do – make the vehicle fleet more fuel efficient. He sees Congress repeating the mistake now with cap and trade - instead of gas taxes.</p>

July 9 - The Washington Post

<p>The Guardian U.K. observes that the end of cheap oil is changing driving habits, boosting public transit use and encouraging localization. In short, they are making America a bigger place.</p>

July 9 - The Guardian

<p>The Chicago Tribune examines what became of an ambitious city project, led by Mayor Daley, to revolutionize public housing. Private developers received public funding to tear down old projects and replace them with mixed-use neighborhoods.</p>

July 9 - The Chicago Tribune

<p>The Minneapolis area is already 2nd in the nation for the percentage of commuters who bike to work. With gas prices soaring, the number of bicyclists has soared. One route over the Mississippi River has seen a doubling of bikes from last year.</p>

July 9 - Star Tribune

<p>Officials in Los Angeles have renamed the former "South Central" to remove the stigma of riots in the 1990's. But some business owners and residents say that's had a greater negative consequence than keeping the old name would have.</p>

July 9 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>Southern Californians, facing some of the worst gas prices in the country, are experimenting with taking public transit, as these personal stories from the Los Angeles Times attest.</p>

July 9 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>The Boston Globe says that when suburbs become denser, 'Democrats promising mass transit become more appealing than Republicans promising to protect gun ownership.'</p>

July 8 - The Boston Globe

<p>The eight states bordering on the five Great Lakes are about to come to an agreement about how the lakes' precious water is used and who can use it.</p>

July 8 - NPR

<p>Joel Kotkin's recent LA Times Op-Ed is critiqued by Bill Fulton of the California Planning and Development Report. Fulton argues the suburban areas Kotkin defends are actually urbanizing, whereas true suburbia show signs of becoming the new slums.</p>

July 8 - California Planning and Development Report

<p>Americans have been storing a staggering amount of personal belongings in self-storage units. But along with the foreclosure crisis, storage companies are now seeing people foreclose on their lockers.</p>

July 8 - Macleans Magazine

<p>As more families choose to live in denser cities and neighborhoods, apartment dwellers must learn to deal with noisy tots.</p>

July 8 - The New York Times

<p>Joel Kotkin once again leaps to the defense of the suburbs as a choice, and says that urbanists who are hoping that Americans will rush back into the cities are sadly mistaken.</p>

July 8 - The Los Angeles Times