The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

NJ's Republican Gov. Chris Christie heaps praise on President Obama, and the governor of the neighboring, hard-hit state, NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo, has also stirred the political pot by going where no other pol has gone - linking Sandy to climate change.

November 2 - San Francisco Chronicle

Critics of the proposed $500-million Southern California International Gateway, which is being touted as “one of the 'greenest' freight yards in the nation," contend it will actually reduce air quality and harm low income, minority residents.

November 1 - Los Angeles Times

Extreme events tend to expose the true weaknesses and strengths of a place and its people. In the same way that Sandy revealed the shortcomings in NY's physical infrastructure, it has shown the growing chasm in the city's economic infrastructure.

November 1 - The Atlantic

One silver lining from Hurricane Sandy is that it proved the accuracy of the National Hurricane Center, an agency under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) due largely to its hi-tech tools. Do you know what a 'dropsonde' is?

November 1 - NPR: All Things Considered

In many parts of the city located on higher ground than Lower Manhattan, the lights are on and the flood waters have receded. But New York's transportation network is struggling to reconnect the city's business centers with commuters.

November 1 - The New York Times

Five years ago, Graham Weston, the chairman and co-founder of Rackspace, had a wild vision to transform an abandoned mall into his company's headquarters. His unique approach has revitalized the adjacent city of Windcrest, a suburb of San Antonio.

November 1 - The New York Times

What do we lose when we narrowly associate planning with an 'urban' or 'city' context? The ability to effectively plan for rural, transitional, regional, and even urban areas, says Ruth Miller.

November 1 - Colab Radio

For 10 years now, Michael Lejeune, Creative Director for the Metropolitan Transit Authority (M.T.A.), has made taking transit in L.A. seem a lot cooler. These re-branding efforts have contributed to a 38 percent increase in ridership since 2005.

November 1 - The New York Times

In the face of slow development in the U.S., renowned architects Richard Meier and Robert A.M. Stern have been exporting their distinctive styles overseas, where “people want to bask in the reflective glow of New York.”

November 1 - The New York Times

A study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) identified twenty coastal cities, which by population, would be most exposed to flooding and superstorms. Fifteen are mega-cities in Asia.

November 1 - Channel News Asia

What does it mean to truly involve the public in planning processes? Neeraj Mehta finds "too much placation, manipulation and tokenism in our engagement efforts," and identifies principles for collective problem-solving and shared decision-making.

November 1 - Next American City

FEATURE

Planning education and practice fail to recognize the importance of physical design and spatial planning. Randall Arendt diagnoses the root of the disorder and suggests some treatments for returning urban planning to good health.

October 31 - Randall Arendt

After much anticipation, Richard Florida has published his extremely scientific (no joke) 2012 Halloween Index, which identifies "the metros best primed for trick-or-treating and Halloween revelry."

October 31 - The Atlantic Cities

Among the iconic images of Hurricane Sandy's devastation is sure to be the video of the construction crane on the tallest residential building under construction in NYC being toppled by hurricane force winds and left dangling perilously in Midtown.

October 31 - CNN U.S.

The past week has seen the deaths of renowned architects Lebbeus Woods and John Johansen.

October 31 - BLDGBLOG

Richard Florida warns about America's increasing “economic Balkanization”: a shrinking working class and the attendant swelling of low-wage service sector employees and the unemployed on the one hand, and the prosperous creative class on the other.

October 31 - The Atlantic Cities

Tony Barboza discusses how the disappearance of expected funding has dimmed the City of Irvine's vision for turning the decommissioned Marine Corps Air Station El Toro into "the first great metropolitan park of the 21st century."

October 31 - Los Angeles Times

After nearly a decade of ignoring warnings about the type of disaster witnessed this week, New York City and State officials may no longer be able to push off implementing drastic plans to safeguard the city from rising seas and super storms.

October 31 - The New York Times

Is the adoption of cargo bikes the next step in America's evolution towards a European model of bikeability?

October 31 - Next American City

Qatar Airlines is gearing up their jets to run on a fuel derived from natural gas - so don't expect to see fuel tanks holding liquefied gas. Similar to the "Messerschmitt Fuel" in World War II that was derived from coal, they are called synfuels.

October 31 - The New York Times - Green Blog