The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Delhi attempts to cut its self-imposed red tape with a unified transportation agency.

August 23 - The Wall Street Journal

BLOG POST

<p> This morning over at Atlantic Cities, <a href="http://www.theatlanticcities.com/politics/2012/08/has-london-mayors-office-been-too-successful/3024/">Richard Florida aptly refuted</a> an <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2012/aug/16/abolish-london-mayor-boris-johnson">opinion piece by Kevin Meagher</a> that appeared in the Guardian last week advocating for doing away with the position of Mayor in London. Florida lays out several strong arguments in favor of a strong elected mayor who can act as an advocate for his or her city. </p>

August 22 - Jess Zimbabwe

No this isn't about a gathering of "Knight Rider" enthusiasts. Rather than speaking to their leather jacket-clad drivers, the cars being tested in Michigan communicate with each other, with the goal of improving safety on the nation’s highways.

August 22 - The New York Times

Chris Haller parses the data in a recent report on Internet use for implications for how communities should manage their public outreach strategies.

August 22 - Engaging Cities

Astrophysicist Adam Frank takes a bird's eye view of the beautiful and perilous ways in which cities - "the defining element of human civilization" - exhibit the laws of thermodynamics.

August 22 - NPR

As Vanessa Quirk reports, the house Frank Lloyd Wright designed for his son, David, is one of the renowned designer's "more unusual architectural specimens." Located in Arcadia, Arizona, the home is at imminent risk of demolition by developers.

August 22 - ArchDaily

Businesses and residents in San Antonio are celebrating what a temporary makeover of Alamo Plaza last weekend revealed about the potential to bring locals back to the city's tourist mecca.

August 22 - San Antonio Express-News

It has long been assumed by politicians, and others, that homeowners are more likely to invest in contributing to the well-being of their neighborhoods than renters. A new report seems to support those assumptions.

August 22 - Next American City

Citing a "near-term risk" of rising tides, city planners in Boston are grappling with how to prepare residents and businesses for the effects of climate change, reports Monica Brady-Myerov.

August 22 - NPR

Dogged by highly publicized lawsuits and complaints since their introduction six years ago, a new poll conducted by The New York Times shows widespread support for the city's new bike lanes.

August 22 - The New York Times

Giving new meaning to the phrase "take back the streets," Neal Peirce writes about the arguments in favor of a "freeway free" future for the world's cities, which was the subject of a recent Rockefeller Foundation Conference held in Bellagio, Italy.

August 22 - Citi Wire

Hazel Borys concludes her popular photo series on lessons from Canadian urbanism with a look at Ottawa, whose charming historic character is illegal to reproduce today in its more auto-centric outskirts.

August 22 - PlaceShakers

The wild success of a "pop-up urban intervention” transforming Toronto's Yonge Street has Christopher Hume and the city's residents excited about the ability of small moves to have a big impact.

August 21 - Toronto Star

With only one parklet completed in the city thus far, L.A. has its work cut out to catch its pioneering northern neighbor San Francisco, and their 40 parklets. By the end of this week, however, the city hopes to have the ball rolling.

August 21 - Streetsblog LA

Harvey Morris surveys recent controversies in France, England, and Germany that have stoked the simmering debate over whether the accelerating gentrification of Europe's major cities is leading to the ghettoization of their urban poor.

August 21 - The New York Times

Without full-time bus-only lanes, signal priority, advanced ticket sales, or all-door boarding, the Chicago Transit Authority's (CTA) tentative first steps aboard Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) may not be so speedy after all.

August 21 - Chicago Tribune

BLOG POST

<p> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small"> </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: small">Many students are understandably worried about getting a job once they graduate. The slow economy has made this more difficult and also changed some of the parameters in terms of approach and timing. For example, many employers are hesitant to make early commitments, delaying some phases of the job search. In this blog I outline a strategy for using the academic year to find a job or a summer internship using the North American academic calendar as a base. </span></span> </p>

August 21 - Ann Forsyth

Sacramento's downtown train station recently relocated its tracks to accommodate new transit oriented development - but the long, winding walk from depot to platform has presented problems for passengers, including a fatal heart attack on day one.

August 21 - The Sacramento Bee - Transportation

After two decades of pushing the boundaries of what it means to build a community (both physically and spiritually), the annual Burning Man festival has a lot to teach municipalities about providing services and fostering participation.

August 21 - Shareable

America's national parks are as popular as ever. But, as the national park system approaches its 100th anniversary in 2016, years of strained budgets and deferred maintenance are conspiring to spoil the celebration.

August 21 - The Washington Post