The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

FEATURE

One citizen planner's journey across the United States provides a glimpse at how stronger connections between people and places can create better communities.

September 10 - Wayne Senville

<p>A measure on the Alaskan ballot this October could require a local government to compensate landowners if new land use regulations hurt property values -- a measure similar to Oregon's controversial Measure 37 that is meeting similar resistance.</p>

September 10 - Anchorage Daily News

<p>Getting to the airport is oftentimes a headache. But in these 10 American cities, easy transit access makes the trip before your trip a breeze.</p>

September 10 - MSNBC

<p>Japan's leech invasion may be an unintended consequence of successful reforestation efforts combined with rural population declines.</p>

September 10 - Salon

<p>Microsoft has announced the launch of a private 14-bus transit system to serve its employees in the Seattle area. Transit advocates say the plan underscores the transit deficiencies faced by the region.</p>

September 10 - The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

<p>With little money available in county coffers, residents in an Indiana subdivision are hoping to create a special assessment district that will allow them to personally pay for road maintenance.</p>

September 10 - The Detroit News

<p>Wal-Mart's efforts to reduce waste and operate in an environmentally-friendly manner has fueled a green business boom in an Arkansas town near the corporation's headquarters.</p>

September 10 - The Washington Post

BLOG POST

<p><font face="georgia, bookman old style, palatino linotype, book antiqua, palatino, trebuchet ms, helvetica, garamond, sans-serif, arial, verdana, avante garde, century gothic, comic sans ms, times, times new roman, serif"><em> It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.</em> ~Ernest Hemingway</font></p>

September 9 - Mike Lydon

<p>The growing popularity of naturalized, low-water and chemical-free lawns is leading to conflicts amongst neighbors and city officials. Some disagreements have moved from the front lawn to the courtroom.</p>

September 9 - The Globe & Mail

<p>When selecting a design for San Francisco's new Transbay Terminal, planners and the public should be cautious of building too high in a seismically-active city, writes Harold Gilliam.</p>

September 9 - The San Francisco Chronicle

<p>A new study of Census data shows that people are willing to pay more to live near other people with similar characteristics, such as education level and race.</p>

September 9 - Terra Daily

<p>By denying that the American housing market was artificially inflated, and by keeping interest rates low and encouraging risky mortgage lending, the Federal Reserve contributed significantly to the inevitable bursting of the housing bubble.</p>

September 9 - Common Dreams

<p>This column criticizes the recently-passed Kansas City ordinance that restricts billboard advertising within the city, claiming it will disproportionately harm local small businesses that are already having trouble getting noticed.</p>

September 9 - The Kansas City Star

<p>In what is arguably the most important environmental bill in California since last year's Global Warming Solutions Act, SB 375 attempts to reduce global warming by addressing land use and transportation through better regional planning.</p>

September 8 - The Sacramento Bee

<p>For those developers and planners frustrated by not being able to push projects past local opposition, writer Garret Keizer offers his formula for getting nearly any project approved.</p>

September 8 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>This article from <em>Metropolis Magazine</em> looks at how New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's broad environmental plans will serve to redefine civic virtues for the 21st century.</p>

September 8 - Metropolis Magazine

<p>A high-profile advertising campaign/contest is looking to bank on the coolness of historic preservation by inviting Chicago residents to vote for their favorite crumbling landmarks. The winner of the contest will receive $1 million in rehab funds.</p>

September 8 - The Chicago Tribune

<p>With ambitious environmentally-conscious building requirements and the cooperation of the state government, the California Capitol city Sacramento is looking to edge past Chicago as the nation's greenest city.</p>

September 8 - The Sacramento Bee

<p>Proponents of the "creative class" theory argue that hip cities will be the most successful because they lure highly educated professionals who are essential in today's economy. But detractors say this is simply an argument for bread and circuses.</p>

September 7 - California Planning & Development Report

<p>This audio report discusses the creeks of Seattle and how years of neglect, abuse, and pollution have endangered fish species, destroyed wetlands, and caused big problems for the area's storm drainage.</p>

September 7 - KUOW