The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>Older districts are often marked by high property values and traditional architecture, but it's not just aesthetics and history that define them. Some historic neighborhoods have gone through vast changes, while others don't appear "historic" at all.</p>

July 1 - Forbes

<p><em>Business Week</em> looks at a recent list of the best cities for design in America.</p>

July 1 - Business Week

<p>The article suggests that rising gas prices, enduring subprime mortgage crisis, and some changing demographics (i.e., the aging of Baby Boomers) are all contributing to the greater popularity of central city neighborhoods.</p>

July 1 - The Chicago Tribune

<p>A new condo proposal in a Honolulu neighborhood is 70 feet over the current height limits. Developers say new heights are necessary to make projects pencil out with rising construction costs.</p>

July 1 - Honolulu Advertiser

<p>Rezoning in New York's Lower East Side brings the issue of language to the fore, as members of the Spanish and Chinese communities find themselves unable to participate in important decisions about their neighborhoods.</p>

July 1 - The New York Times

<p>As part of a plan to utilize the city's rainwater and recycle it back to lake Michigan, Chicago has been renovating its 13,00 alleys to become permeable surfaces, where rainwater can soak back into the ground. 40 alleys have been redone so far.</p>

June 30 - CNN

<p>The Boston Globe features an extensive profile of Kairos Shen, the city's new chief planner. Shen has had a hand in shaping most major projects in Boston already, and is poised to be a key player in Boston's future.</p>

June 30 - The Boston Globe

State, county, and city officials revealed eight new options for dealing with Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct, a damaged double-decker inner city freeway.

June 30 - The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

<p>Citing the great burden America's cities are bearing due to the war in Iraq, a coalition of Mayors allied with anti-war groups tabled a resolution opposing military action against Iran at the recent Conference of Mayors.</p>

June 30 - CommonDreams.org

<p>The Economist reviews the state of America's crumbling civil infrastructure. With water, transit, bridge, and road systems failing, experts call for increased investment and careful planning.</p>

June 30 - The Economist

<p>Pennsylvania is putting its money where its mouth is with the Fresh Food Financing Initiative, a $120 million fund to encourage inner-city groceries.</p>

June 30 - The Christian Science Monitor

<p>The Bureau of Land Management, with a pile of solar power plans on its desk, declares a moratorium on building on public land until they can do environmental impact studies.</p>

June 30 - The New York Times

<p>This commentary from <em>ArchNewsNow</em> wonders whether urbanism is really the cause of social alienation, not the cure.</p>

June 30 - ArchNewsNow

<p>West Baltimore residents and community groups see a new light rail project as their way up for their blighted neighborhood.</p>

June 30 - The Baltimore Sun

FEATURE

Architect John Field believes that signature buildings by celebrity architects are destroying the urban fabric and our sense of community.

June 30 - John Field

<p>Cops in Toronto catch a criminal through GIS plotting, and reporter Sara Barbour takes us on a tour of other unusual new applications of GIS.</p>

June 30 - Miller/McCune

BLOG POST

<p class="MsoNormal">Lastmonth’s blog outlined how to find books recommended by many planners—important,classic, or accessible. </p><p class="MsoNormal">However,summer is also a time to push your viewpoint a bit further. For those wantingreadings that might push you tothink differently about planning, the following lists are useful startingpoints. (And a note to planners—we need more of these lists reflecting different placesand people and issues!) </p>

June 29 - Ann Forsyth

<p>A Delaware energy company has agreed to buy power from a proposed offshore wind power farm that could now be built by 2012. The agreement gives more clout to the proposed power farm, which has been debated in the state for years.</p>

June 29 - The News Journal

<p>High water levels are straining hydroelectric power generators in Oregon, where too much energy is being created.</p>

June 29 - The Oregonian

<p>Artist Olafur Eliasson has installed a cascading waterfall directly under one of the towers of the Brookyln Bridge. In this excerpt, he reflects on the need for public space and the impact of art in public.</p>

June 29 - Wall St. Journal