The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

A neighborhood association is protesting that Stadium Club, a "steak-and-strippers" place in Washington, DC, is an adult use and against local zoning ordinances. But the Board of Zoning Adjustment decided recently that it isn't "sexually-oriented."

November 10 - Washington Citypaper

To maintain current transportation spending levels in the new reauthorization bill, Speaker Boehner is proposing a bill to fill the shortfall from projected federal gas tax revenues with the royalties expected from new oil and gas drilling.

November 10 - The Washington Post: Ezra Klein's Wonkblog

In Mumbai, a tight-knit community of Ismaili Muslims are beginning work on their 16.5 acres redevelopment project. The cluster of land, which is said to be in the heart of the city's southern tip, is to be completed by 2017.

November 10 - The Polis Blog

Accessory dwelling units, or in-law apartments, are gaining approval in greater numbers of communities.

November 10 - The New York Times

Even a real estate market as strong as Washington, DC has vacant land and storefronts. Regulatory burdens and business customs make finding temporary tenants difficult, even though temporary uses can enliven dead spaces and spark entrepreneurship.

November 10 - Greater Greater Washington

Under New York's Delancey Street lurks 60,000 square feet of vaulted ceilings and cobbled streets, sitting unappreciated in the dark. A group of entrepreneurs have plans to create a subterranean park there.

November 10 - This Big City

Metra, Chicago's regional rail provider, has announced that it will increase fares starting in February 2012. For over 300,000 weekday riders, the price increase will mean hundreds of dollars more in fares per year.

November 10 - World Socialist Web Site

Pilgrimages to holy sites around the world have caused large amounts of waste and pollution because of the large amount of people gathering together for one event and consumeristic habits, writes George Webster for CNN

November 10 - CNN

As a compromise for its presence in the community, mall developers on behalf of residents got one Costco's plans to be redrawn to look less like a, well, Costco. Rosanna Xia reports on the process.

November 10 - Los Angeles Times

In this post, John Keith suggests five methods to help Boston be more affordable to live in, including striking out the city's affordable housing program altogether.

November 10 - CharlestownPatch

BLOG POST

If you can make it past rhetoric around healthcare, abortion, collective bargaining, and immigration, the November 8th election results tell a more cohesive and calming story about American’s political sentiment.

November 9 - Jess Zimbabwe

In Jakarta, efforts to becoming a more livable city inspired the construction of a designated bicycle lane. The 1.5 km bike lane stretches from Ayodia Park To Blok M, but due to lack in law enforcement, bikes aren't the only ones using these lanes.

November 9 - This Big City

A passing of a a half-cent sales tax increase dedicated to transit in Durham County shows that voters are willing to invest for new public transportation options. This is the first step towards upgrading North Carolina's mass transit system.

November 9 - the transport politic

BLOG POST

<p> Shannon McElvaney at ESRI is working on a book on GeoDesign -- a growing movement of academics, community planning and development practitioners, ecosystem managers, and geospatial tool developers interested in the nexus between geography, design, planning, ecosystem management and community decision making.  Shannon asked PlaceMatters to contribute to the book, asking us a series of questions.  In the process of answering the first question &quot;What does GeoDesign mean to you?&quot; i fell in love with the combination of the two words and how they truely captured the range of interests engaging in the GeoDesign conversation. </p> <p> Here were a couple of my thoughts: </p>

November 9 - Ken Snyder

Factors such as age, labor costs, real estate, and construction all factor into why cities are paying more money for transit projects, but are still getting less on their return, writes David Lepeska for The Atlantic Cities.

November 9 - The Atlantic Cities

Christopher Grey remembers the Greyhound Bus Station that used to be located in New York's Midtown. Demolished and forgotten, it never provoked the outrage that arose over the destruction of Penn Station.

November 9 - The New York Times

Buffalo, NY urban planner Chris Hawley is excited about the possibilities for his city, explaining that the Rust Belt infrastructure already in place gives Buffalo a leg up over cities built later in history.

November 9 - Next American City

At the recent ASLA Conference in San Diego, a panel of noted landscape architects discussed whether New York City's hit park The High Line is a replicable model for other cities.

November 9 - ASLA's The Dirt blog

It's no coincidence that cities with proper streetcar networks are the most bike-friendly, and vice versa, according to Dan Malouff.

November 9 - Greater Greater Washington

Industrial building developers, who had previously decried the price tag of green roofs now standard to many buildings in Toronto, may get the OK to construct an alternative, reflective roof instead.

November 9 - National Post