The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Infrastructure costs are towering in the U.S., but much of that could be because of old habits in road building. This column looks at how cities and states can reduce their infrastructure costs.

August 23 - Citiwire

It appears that everyone is talking about the impact that sports stadiums have on urban economic development. As soon as one person says they're a terrible idea, another article will retort the benefits brought to a given city.

August 23 - Initiative for a Competitive Inner City

Thomas Rogers laments the fact that no disaster movie has bothered to obliterate a Canadian city or landmark.

August 23 - Globe and Mail

From 2000 to 2010, Kendall County, Illinois was the fastest growing county in the country. Today, it seems the downturn has caught up with Kendall.

August 23 - Chicago News Cooperative

Japanese officials recently approved plans to build a 320-mile magnetic levitation train system. The $114 billion project is expected to begin construction in 2014.

August 23 - Ecomagination

Two neighboring towns -- one with a bustling soccer stadium and the other with a struggling minor league baseball stadium -- offer a story of changing times in the U.S.

August 23 - The New York Times

Russian officials are pushing a plan to build a tunnel connecting Russian territory to the United States.

August 23 - MSNBC

Transit oriented development is on the rise in California, with new projects being pushed in conjunction with new rail lines in Southern California and the Bay Area.

August 23 - The Architect's Newspaper

The lackluster performance of the Federal Home Loan Banks' economic development could be improved by following the model of their own Affordable Housing Program, writes Carol Wayman.

August 23 - Shelterforce

The transformation of Architect Michael Arad and landscape architect Peter Walker's 9/11 memorial "Reflecting Absence" from vacant space to completion is revealed in this dramatic time lapse film [VIDEO].

August 23 - Huffington Post

Blogger Chewie suggests a controversial idea - a tax on bicycle sales and repair to go to creating more bicycle infrastructure.

August 22 - Straight Outta Suburbia

Writer J.J. Sedelmaier recalls riding the beautifully streamlined Electroliner trains, which ran on the same tracks as other Chicago rail transit but were a special event all to themselves.

August 22 - Salon

Jack Layton, longtime advocate for a national housing policy in Canada has succumbed to cancer just months after leading his New Democratic Party from third party status to official opposition.

August 22 - Toronto Star

Last week, the Federal Highway Administration awarded discretionary highway grants in what could be among the last expenditures before the Sept. 30 expiration of the gas tax. Included were $8m for Value Pricing Pilot Program projects in 5 states.

August 22 - FHWA Press Release

The 10-lane Kennedy Expressway in Chicago is forced to manage significantly more traffic than it was designed to handle. Traffic planners have installed a flexible lane that can increase the flow in one direction, but Chicagoans are baffled by them.

August 22 - The Chicago Tribune

Portland, Oregon is already known for having a strict policy regarding its urban growth boundary. A new 50-year plan designates large rural reserves, while also holding large areas as <em>urban</em> reserves for possible future development.

August 22 - The Oregonian

The BMW Guggenheim Lab has released an online urban planning game called "Urbanology," which asks a serious of questions to determine the type of city you think is the future.

August 22 - TheCityFix.com

Laura Vanderkam tells of a not-too-distant past where New York's parks and public places were in disarray, and it took public-private partnerships to bring them back to their former glory (and maybe better).

August 22 - City Journal

Environmental opposition to large solar and wind projects in the desert usually based on their biological impacts has long baffled many renewable power advocates. CA Gov. Jerry Brown expressed support for the alternative, 'distributed generation'.

August 22 - Los Angeles Times - Business

In Seattle's Green Lake neighborhood, a local with a wicked sense of humor has taken planning into his/her own hands, posting a plan to turn an empty eyesore of a lot into a public park.

August 21 - Boing Boing