The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Proposed 2006 budget would cut Amtrak's $1.2 billion federal funding possibly ending passenger service in many states.

February 12 - MSNBC

Innovative planning professor Gill-Chin Lim died as a result of injuries sustained in a traffic accident.

February 12 - State News

A new report by the Reason Foundation finds that using eminentdomain often fails to help achieve economic development goals.

February 12 - Reason Public Policy Institute

The problem is that suburban and rural dwellers are much more likely to drive everywhere, and that means they have a higher chance of being obese or overweight, a health lobby group says.

February 12 - Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Imagining the future is risky business, but projections often encourage regional planning.

February 12 - The San Francisco Chronicle

Between 9,000 and 15,000 people work at the US Census Bureau, according to the Bureau's 2004 figures.

February 11 - The Onion

Distinctive architecture is making it's mark on British university campuses.

February 11 - The Independent

Councilmember Tom LaBonge urges county policymakers to plan for heavy-rail infrastructure for the future.

February 11 - The Metro Investment Report

A group of Los Angeles expatriates are pushing into the high desert looking for a 'bohemian' solitude.

February 11 - The Los Angeles Times

Small businesses, union leaders, and even some mayoral candidates gear up to resist Wal-Mart's plans open its first New York City store.

February 11 - The New York Times

Fish & Wildlife Service scientists report political pressure, distortion.

February 11 - The San Francisco Chronicle

Stephen Town and Randal O'Toole argue that in the name of "openness" New Urbanists are creating crime-friendly neighborhoods.

February 11 - Reason Online

The Super Bowl is over, but the big game -- a contest for the right tobuild on one of Manhattan's most important sites -- is heating up.

February 11 - The Slatin Report

Nanoparticles are emerging as a cost effective method to attack some of the most vexing underground pollutants.

February 11 - The Christian Science Monitor

Cleveland's older suburbs hope to fight new projects that will drain more people from the aging suburbs.

February 11 - The Cleveland Plain Dealer

A mayoral candidate rides with a controversial cyclists rights group during a monthly protest event.

February 10 - The Oregonian

It may be true that aging slows down an economy, but not necessarily, some economists say.

February 10 - The Christian Science Monitor

Former California Gov. Pete Wilson will oversee a Center for Economic Development set up by the L.A. County Economic Development Corp.

February 10 - The Metro Investment Report

BLOG POST

Interesting assessment on Slate today (<a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2113107/">here</a>) of the Disney-developed planned community Celebration. It's from their architecture critic, the always-readable Witold Rybczynski, who likes the town more than a cynic might expect (though he does go for the inevitable Main-Street-at-Disneyland lead). His main complaint: it's too damn popular:<br /> <br /> <blockquote>Like all American real-estate ventures since colonial days, it's a mixture of vision, business, and blarney. The design and planning are an order of magnitude better than what is usual in planned communities. If there is a trickle-down effect—and the financial success of Celebration has not gone unnoticed by commercial homebuilders—Celebration may push developers in the direction of denser, more varied, and better designed suburban communities, which will be a good thing. But Celebration is hardly the model for the future that Disney intended. A four-bedroom house on a small lot—like the relatively modest Craftsman-style Bungalow pictured here, hardly a McMansion—now sells for $450,000. This is more than three times the average selling price of houses in metropolitan areas nationwide, which is currently $140,000, making Celebration the residential equivalent of a Lexus. The truth is that despite its best efforts, the populist Disney Co. has produced an elitist product.</blockquote>

February 10 - Anonymous

Slate's architecture critic looks at Celebration -- Disney's controversial town -- as it celebrates it's 10-year anniversary.

February 10 - Slate