The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Arguing for the value of historic low and mid-rise, but also dense, areas of Brooklyn, Washington D.C., and New Orleans, Edward T. McMahon asks us to reconsider the pursuit of density as an end in itself, and the high-rise as its fullest expression.

May 15 - Citiwire.net

Just graduated? For the 60% of you who won't be moving back home, Richard Florida examines the best places for college grads to find jobs, housing, friends, and a little spending money.

May 14 - The Atlantic Cities

Christopher Hawthorne begins a series exploring the ways in which L.A. is utilizing its boulevards to try on "a post-suburban identity for the first time", with a look at Atlantic Boulevard, a major north-south spine.

May 14 - Los Angeles Times

Chain store opponents in Vermont battle to preserve the uniqueness of their small towns by pushing against a planned Dollar General Store. While a review board narrowly approved a plan, it also attached a lengthy list of restrictions.

May 14 - The New York Times

Attending her first CNU conference, Erin Chantry confronts the myths and the maxims attributed to the theology of New Urbanism in this review of the energetic debate between Andres Duany and Daniel Solomon at the conference plenary session.

May 14 - Tindale-Oliver and Associates Blog

Ann Mesnikoff, Director of the Sierra Club Green Transportation Campaign, looks at the CBO's Highway Trust Fund report on the relationship between fuel economy standards and projected gas tax revenues, and finds it too hypothetical.

May 14 - Sierra Club Compass

Michael Lind argues that the version of the nation's infrastructure priorities we've been sold is a fallacy, and he has some suggestions for the kind of infrastructure we really need.

May 14 - Salon.com

Jason Jordan reports on last week's stunning vote in the House of Representatives to eliminate the American Community Survey (ACS) in its entirety.

May 14 - APA Policy News

Adam Davidson explores Honduras's experimentation with economist Paul Romer's theories on the need for poor countries to build special economic development zones that essentially "start from scratch" with new legal and political systems.

May 14 - The New York Times

The onetime steel capital's transition to an economy based on the healthcare sector has helped Pittsburgh emerge from the recession much quicker than many other cities, bringing welcome jobs and questions about its sustainability, reports Don Lee.

May 14 - Los Angeles Times

As it wraps up the first stage of a community planning progress, Alan G. Brake checks in on the latest designs for Chicago's answer to the High Line.

May 14 - The Architect's Newspaper

With victories in Beverly Hills, and a notable defeat in nearby Palos Verdes Estates, Alexei Barrionuevo tracks historic preservation's shifting place in Los Angeles.

May 13 - The New York Times

ASLA's blog, <em>The Dirt</em>, dishes on how sushi, an ancient food, became modern in Tokyo, and conquered the world.

May 13 - THE DIRT

With more than a quarter of disabled Americans who are unable to leave their homes prevented from doing so by transportation difficulties, Sarah Laskow argues it's time for cities to move beyond ADA.

May 13 - Good

Kirk Johnson chronicles the nonprofit housing builder's move into larger-scale housing development in Oregon, as it takes advantage of the depressed real estate market, and the kindness of donors.

May 13 - The New York Times

HECA, the Hydrogen Energy California project, will do much more than burn H2 to produce 300 megawatts of emission-free electricity. This U.S. Dept. of Energy-backed project will store (sequester) carbon underground in Kern County's oil fields.

May 13 - Business Wire

Kelly Chan explores how temporary architecture is changing our relationship to the built environment, and asks "how permanent is our current fascination for the temporary?"

May 12 - Art Info

Ariel Rosenstock delivers the details, and slick renderings, of Amazon's new 3 million square-foot downtown Seattle headquarters.

May 12 - The Architect's Newspaper Blog

Several case studies from edible city innovators are offered in a new ASLA video that shows how you can transform your backyard, corner lot or rooftop into an urban farm, reports Jude Stewart.

May 12 - Fast Company

Mostly unmentioned during the very public removal of Chinese leader Bo Xilai was the ambitious urban development program he led in Chongqing. Julia Zhou looks at those efforts and their uncertain future.

May 12 - Architizer