The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>Israel's 450-mile long "security fence" is causing controversy not just because of the opposition of Palestinians in the West Bank, but because it will run through sensitive habitat and affect the ability of wildlife to access food and water.</p>

March 16 - Orion

<p>In Miami, speculators inflated the housing market by buying and flipping condos. Now with the market deflating and a host of condo towers still under construction, Miami may be the worst major real estate market in the world.</p>

March 16 - The Globe & Mail

<p>Stan Cox argues that the massive square footage of so many modern houses -- no matter how "energy efficient" the construction -- is a luxury the planet can no longer afford.</p>

March 16 - Common Dreams

BLOG POST

<p> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Often, planners and economists seem to be at odds. Actually, a better description would be talking past each other—literally two ships passing in the night.</font> </p> <p> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Planners often think economists are too narrowly focused on dollars, cents, and rational decisionmaking. Economists can’t understand why planners don’t recognize the real world of markets and why incentives matter—a lot. </font> </p>

March 15 - Samuel Staley

<p>This report from <em>Weekend America</em> talks with an urban food forager and looks at how to find food on the street in L.A.</p>

March 15 - Weekend America

<p>This article from the <em>Albany Times Union</em> looks at the importance of using a regional approach to addressing poverty, crime and inner city blight.</p>

March 15 - Albany Times Union

<p>Officials in D.C. have sought to punish Philadelphia's Housing Director for not selling a vacant property to a friend of the HUD Secretary. The city was then found in violation of rules, and could now lose $50 million in housing funds.</p>

March 15 - The Washington Post

<p>Burial space has already run out on Nantucket Island, but Massachusetts law requires burial spaces for anyone dying within town limits. Now officials are scrambling to find a place for their dead to go.</p>

March 15 - The Nantucket Independent

<p>A severe drought in Australia has cut into the country's wheat production -- and pushed prices up all over the world.</p>

March 15 - BBC

<p>More and more people are injuring themselves by walking into poles while looking down at their cell phones. This video from <em>ITN News</em> looks at an effort in England to make the streets safer for walking texters.</p>

March 14 - ITN News via Engadget

<p><em>The Onion</em> reports on an innovative new infrastructure plan from DOT: self-cleaning special lanes for reckless drivers.</p>

March 14 - The Onion

<p>A state task force looking at improving the Oregon state land use and planning system is going back to work.</p>

March 14 - The Oregonian

<p>Forbes looks at the world's 25 most polluted cities, and concludes that governments and industries need to realize how cost-effective pollution remediation is.</p>

March 14 - Forbes

<p>The Friends of the Bloomingdale Trail want to convert a three-mile section of abandoned elevated rail line into a bike trail. It could take a decade, but the idea already has the backing of some of the city's power players.</p>

March 14 - Chicago Public Radio

<p>A proposal to stack millions of concrete blocks containing ashes of the deceased in a gigantic pyramid in Germany is attracting proposals from architects -- and some skepticism.</p>

March 14 - BBC

<p>The coal industry, electric utilities and manufacturers are in line to get trillions of dollars in federal funding to reduce carbon emissions, leaving virtually no money for smart growth and transit solutions to climate change.</p>

March 14 - California Planning & Development Repot

<p>City councilors in Washington D.C. have proposed a plan to throw out exemptions that allowed hundreds of landlords to evict residents with little or no notice so they could convert buildings to high priced condos.</p>

March 14 - The Washington Post

<p>A recent report form the U.S. Public Interest Research Group highlights the arguments for increased investment in public transportation.</p>

March 14 - U.S. PIRG, the Federation of State Public Interest Research Groups

<p>This article from the <em>Brooklyn Daily Eagle</em> looks at the increasing public demand for Complete Streets in Brooklyn.</p>

March 14 - The Brooklyn Daily Eagle

<p>Measures are moving forward in Connecticut and Vermont that would protect the rights of residents to dry their laundry on clotheslines -- an act many opponents say drives down property values.</p>

March 13 - The Boston Globe