The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>Despite vastly higher levels of federal affordable housing tax credits awarded to Louisiana, developers are pulling out of projects because they can't make sufficient profits.</p>

April 12 - The Wall Street Journal

<p>The growth in biofuels is putting new pressures on the global food supply chain.</p>

April 11 - The Globe & Mail

<p>A residents' association in Paris is inviting locals to share their ideas about redeveloping a garden and public space in the center of the city by creating them in the virtual reality world Second Life.</p>

April 11 - BBC

<p>Americans' commutes are increasing. The number of 'extreme commuters' -- those who commute over 3 hours -- has nearly doubled since 1990. The longest commute in the nation? Seven hours each way. Is the extreme commute America's newest addiction</p>

April 11 - The New Yorker

<p>Transit officials in Boston are hoping that a new program to install detailed bus maps at subway stations will increase ridership on the city's bus system by helping more people understand it.</p>

April 11 - The Boston Globe

<p>Commuters and transit officials alike are eagerly awaiting the 2008 opening of a suburb-to-suburb rail line near Portland, Oregon. With few other examples of similar lines in the U.S., officials can only hope the line will be a success.</p>

April 11 - The Oregonian

<p>The American transportation system is not only dated, but it also has a huge impact on the climate. The favored solution -- ethanol -- is no solution at all, writes New York Observer columnist Nicholas von Hoffman.</p>

April 11 - The Nation

FEATURE

When membership is not much more than a subscription and decisions are made with little group input, the APA needs to adjust the way it interacts with its members, according to self-proclaimed "APA lifer" Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP.

April 11 - Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

<p>On April 12, for the third time in 35 years, there will be a groundbreaking for the long-awaited Second Avenue subway in NYC. This article reveals the troubled history for this long-awaited subway line.</p>

April 11 - The New York Times

<p>Nearly 80% of Pennsylvania's municipalities have populations less than 5,000. Recently released reports say it's time for the state to form regional coalitions that will help improve local economies and harbor regional planning.</p>

April 11 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

<p>In Miami, many plans are brewing for major highway facelifts -- including the creation of a four-level highway interchange. In the meantime, the region looks to deal with congestion by thinning highway lane widths to create more room for traffic.</p>

April 11 - The Miami Herald

<p>Since the late-1960s, an irrigation project have been slowly draining the entire Aral Sea, located on the border between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. But a new dam project is bringing the sea's water back, and with it the fish that support the region.</p>

April 11 - BBC

<p>Surrounded by major government centers and large new public works projects, Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, is preparing to reveal a plan to redevelop its waterfront -- a revival effort many residents are wary of.</p>

April 11 - The Washington Post

BLOG POST

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">The recent exhibitions on Robert Moses at the Museum of the City of New York, the Queens Museum of Art, and Columbia University have revived old debates about Robert Moses, most of which have boiled down to the question: when all is said and done, was he good or bad? When I visited the exhibitions, trying to figure out my own answer, I remembered my father’s favorite saying (lifted from <em>Oedipus Rex</em>): “Would you condemn me for that which made me great?&quot;</font></p>

April 10 - Anthony Weiss

<p>Western states are leading the nation in innovations to build a clean-energy economy.</p>

April 10 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>An interview with Keith Ernst, senior policy counsel for the Center for Responsible Lending, on the devastating impact of subprime loans on home ownership.</p>

April 10 - Democracy Now!

<p>Getting power generated from eco-friendly renewable energy sources in rural to energy-hungry urban areas requires transmissions lines that are harmful to the environment.</p>

April 10 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>Neal Peirce looks at new ideas for financing roadway improvements, including leasing toll roads to private companies and on-board computer monitoring of actual road use.</p>

April 10 - The Seattle Times

<p>Harris Steinberg, director of PennPraxis, outlines one important lesson from the Central Delaware Waterfront Planning Process, which his organization is charged with leading. He describes the importance of open space as a catalyst for development.</p>

April 10 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

<p>After New Jersey's Washington Township built a new smart growth-style town center, new residents jumped to move in. But lack of coordination among state agencies may now be contributing to the township's challenges with education and taxes.</p>

April 10 - The New York Times