The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>The "often-overlooked measure" of homes for sale that are empty is the highest it's ever been. The figure could represent the influence of housing "speculators" and may signal continuing weakness in the national housing market.</p>

February 7 - The Wall Street Journal

<p>This report from <em>NPR</em> looks at the many factors that are delaying the disbursement of recovery and housing funds to hurricane victims in the Gulf Coast region.</p>

February 7 - NPR

<p>With the expansion of light rail projects in Portland, Oregon, an inconspicuous town center may finally find an identity and truly become a center of activity.</p>

February 7 - The Portland Tribune

<p>Estimates of the tax breaks required by developers of a massive mixed use cultural and business center in downtown L.A. have risen more than 50%, according to a recent report. The city-subsidized tax breaks have upset some residents and officials.</p>

February 7 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>A new trend appearing in the slums of Brazil is a high number of foreign tourists and expatriates who visit or even move into the impoverished areas. Meanwhile, Brazil's middle and upper classes keep their distance from the dangerous slums.</p>

February 7 - The Christian Science Monitor

<p>An Italian village that once spent almost three months of each year in the shadows of a nearby mountain has turned to technology to provide sunlight during its annual spell of darkness. A huge sun-tracking mirror now reflects light onto the village.</p>

February 6 - International Herald Tribune

<p>Critic Paul Goldberger suggests that New York planner Robert Moses may deserve another look at the "sheer scale of his achievements." Goldberger reviews the forthcoming book, "Robert Moses and the Modern City: The Transformation of New York".</p>

February 6 - The New Yorker

<p>With debris from construction and demolition of buildings accounting for nearly one-half of all solid waste in the U.S., some entrepreneurs are looking at this landfill fodder as a viable source of reconstruction materials -- and a source of revenue.</p>

February 6 - E, The Environmental Magazine

<p>In the face of a carpool system that many say is failing, highway planners in Sacramento, California, are proposing a major facelift to the carpool lane system -- creating 50 miles of new carpool lanes on dedicated road bridges.</p>

February 6 - The Sacramento Bee

<p>While many argue over the costs and benefits of requiring LEED-certification, some affordable housing developers have shown that building green doesn't require following the program's recommendations.</p>

February 6 - CityLimits.org

<p>The CEO of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority recently told a crowd of L.A. city officials that increasing transit oriented development is high on his list of goals.</p>

February 6 - Los Angeles Downtown News

<p>Silicon Valley companies are engaging in a competition with each other to reduce the number of employees driving to work each day.</p>

February 6 - Cleantech blog

<p>Brooklyn's Starrett City is for sale. While most of the rents of the almost 5,900 apartments are federally subsidized, the tenants fear eventual displacement. Governor Spitzer has signaled he is willing to assist to keep the project affordable.</p>

February 6 - The New York Times

<p>It's not just New Orleans: cities across America need help. What's needed is the political will to do it.</p>

February 6 - Tom Paine

<p>As shopping centers and malls boom in India, a recent seminar looks at how to plan their development in a sustainable way.</p>

February 6 - The Telegraph

<p>With ground floor rents in Manhattan skyrocketing, many independent merchants are moving their storefronts to once vacant second stories.</p>

February 5 - The New York Times

<p>Neglect, poor planning, and flawed city management are being blamed for the recent flooding in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta that has caused hundreds of thousands to evacuate.</p>

February 5 - BBC

<p>Some developers and land use experts have once again called for the city to reconsider its long time height limitations to allow for the development of office high rises.</p>

February 5 - The Washington Post

<p>Cities like Linfen bear the ecological burden of China's massive, coal-fired economic growth.</p>

February 5 - The Globe & Mail

<p>Three plans have been put forward to improve access and circulation around the waterfront in Burlington, Vermont. Many residents are concerned that all three plans place too much emphasis on providing parking.</p>

February 5 - Seven Days