The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Squatting has been a rite of passage for British youth since at least the 1960s, but a new law criminalizing the practice, amid a rise in squatters due to the economic crisis, is "upending the rebellious and politically charged British subculture."

September 24 - The Washington Post

Two days after the CA High Speed Rail Authority received federal environmental streamlining of the 60-mile Merced to Fresno segment, the Federal Railroad Administration announced they will do the same for the 114-mile Fresno to Bakersfield segment.

September 24 - The Fresno Bee

First rolled out last year to help crowdsource ideas for tenants for the renovation of a 4,250 sf building in Washington, D.C., the website Popularise is getting its first tryout outside the district at a new 13-story office building in Seattle.

September 24 - Seattle Met

Susan Klemond looks at what it will take to protect and expand the Twin Cities's tremendous legacy of parks to meet the changing demographics and needs of the area's population.

September 24 - MinnPost

In the developed world, increased urbanization can be a net boon for the environment. Yet, writes Bryan Walsh, if not planned for carefully, the rapid urbanization of developing world could have a dramatic impact on climate change and biodiversity.

September 24 - Time

The opening of the arena at the center of the controversial Atlantic Yards redevelopment project, after nine years of lawsuits, design changes, and unfulfilled promises, has residents of Brooklyn bracing for its impact on their neighborhoods.

September 24 - The New York Times

With researching suggesting international immigration can kick-start local economies, cities across America are contemplating efforts at attracting, and retaining, immigrants. But are immigrants the silver bullet to revive declining cities?

September 24 - Bloomberg

A pilot project spearheaded by the Bloomberg administration to develop a new housing model for the City’s "growing small-household population," has attracted a big response from interested housing developers.

September 23 - The Wall Street Journal

As St. Louis and Portland speed along with new streetcar developments, Yonah Freemark considers how zoning may determine the success of one, and the failure of another.

September 23 - the transport politic

New York City's supertall skyscrapers court billionaires, selling prime real estate in the sky for tens of millions of dollars. The latest trophy building, One57, will soon become the city's tallest building with residences.

September 23 - The New York Times

Decaying and disused buildings litter many American inner-city neighborhoods. In Houston, one imaginative project turns potential into pride and empowerment by creating unique, new uses for old homes.

September 23 - Switchboard

Rapid urbanization in India will create unplanned cities with poor quality of life unless steps are taken to integrate urban design and planning with governance structures, and primitive planning methods are revamped with the latest technology.

September 23 - Hindustan Times

Although the findings of a vast, decades-long study into the effectiveness of efforts to decrease the segregation of poor families did not turn up the results social scientists had hoped for, those efforts were successful in unexpected ways.

September 22 - The New York Times

In the latest entry in his "Boulevards" series, Christopher Hawthorne reports on the planned light rail line along Crenshaw Blvd in Los Angeles, and how it has caused a rift for some residents who are feeling left out of the revitalization process.

September 22 - The Los Angeles Times

Despite the rise in bicycling in many U.S. cities, federal funds have shrunk in the recent transportation bill. However changes in the way funds are allocated allows for more local control, and cities are stepping up.

September 22 - Politco

As if to show that "walkable" is the new mobility in America, even with single-family-homes, new census findings show two-thirds of homes constructed last year had front porches while the number of garages or carports decreased to late 1990 levels.

September 22 - USA Today

A first-of-its-kind study measures the unique health problems of individual cities in the European Union, revealing interesting, and sometimes mysterious, results.

September 22 - The Atlantic Cities

The satirical newspaper <em>The Onion</em> lampoons long shot economic development strategies and overly ambitious city leaders with a post on "St. Louis 2.0" - a "sad little plan" for turning the city into a technology hub.

September 21 - The Onion

First appearing in San Francisco in 2005, Park(ing) Day aims to call attention to the need for more urban open space by taking over parking spots and re-purposing them as temporary public spaces. Today it is being celebrated across the world.

September 21 - The New York Times

New Census data out this week shows the share of Americans commuting by alternatives to the automobile continues to rise. In two-thirds of 342 metropolitan areas for which data was provided, public transit use was up, while solo driving dropped.

September 21 - USA Today