The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
$600,00 Pocket Park Completed, Then Bulldozed to Build School
Jessica Garrison reports on how the City of Los Angeles spent $600k designing and building a park that no one ever got to use when it was claimed as a site for a public school.
LA City Council Moves Closer To River Centric Development
The Los Angeles City Council last week approved an update to the Los Angeles River Implementation Overlay to encourage good quality river centric development and begin removing some of the concrete that covers the river and its banks.
Even or Odd? Rome Restricts Car Use
With pollution levels becoming dangerous in Rome, Italy, the government is taking a hard line on driving. In late November, only cars with even-numbered license plates were allowed to drive in the city, with odd plates the next.
FEATURE
Zurich, the World's Best Transit City
Transportation expert Norman Garrick reports on the amazingly effective transit system of Zurich, Switzerland. Garrick says the system is one of the factors that makes Zurich one of the most livable cities in the world.
The Dreamers Behind the Interstate Highway System
Josh Stephens reviews <a>Big Roads</a> by Earl Swift, which profiles Thomas MacDonald and Frank Turner, the civil engineers who made the Interstate Highway System a reality.
What Is Christmas Without the Department Store?
Robert David Sullivan writes that the Main Street America department store is a holiday tradition, a grand public crossroads for celebrating the season.
Tea Party Candidate Nixes Transit Center
They mayor of Troy, Mich. chooses ideology over investment, <em>The Atlantic's</em> says Eric Jaffe.
Readers Respond To Leinberger's 'Death of Fringe Suburb'
The Times published three responses to op-eds by Leinberger and anti-sprawl contributor, Louise A. Mozingo. Univ. of IL urban planning professor and author Robert Bruegmann and Carnegie Endowment director Shin-Pei Tsay present contrasting viewpoints.
The Traumatizing Effect Of Train Suicides
Caltrain, the 77-mile, Gilroy/San Jose - SF commuter railroad, is suffering an unwelcome resurgence of ‘suicide by train’--16 deaths this year, of which 11 are confirmed suicides. Bay Citizen investigates the psychological effect on train engineers.
Ice Cube's LA Vision...at the Eames
In this short video, Ice Cube waxes poetic about Los Angeles' attitude, highways, and landmarks.
The Year's Hottest Design Trends for Housing and Architecture
Builder Magazine picks their top 10, including smaller apartment options, multigenerational households and... minimalist bathrooms.
How Local Manufacturing Can Rub the Rust off the Rust Belt
William Bostwick explores how locally-sourced, niche product manufacturing could help the Rust Belt rise.
ULI Descends Upon LA With Ideas for Union Station
Carter Rubin at LA Metro’s The Source reports on ULI’s vision for Union Station, which Metro bought for a song earlier this year.
For Luxury Apts, City May Exceed Parking Maximums
As plans move forward for luxury apartments on the site of Greenwich Village's former St. Vincent's Hospital, the city is divided over whether to allow an oversized parking garage on-site. The Municipal Art Society particularly cries "fuzzy math."
London Taxi Drivers' 'Knowledge' Alters Brain Makeup
London requires more topographical knowledge of its taxi drivers than any other city in the world. Now researchers have found that acquiring 'the knowledge' required to gain certification physically changes a human brain.
New Study Finds Twitter Reinforces Place-Based Networks
A new study that explores the geography of twitter networks finds that rather than making place obsolete, their intensity can be predicted by location and proximity, suggesting they enhance location based relationships.
"Civic Action" Examines Art's Role In Development
The Noguchi museum in New York has asked four artists to take a crack at city planning by offering a new way of interpreting the construction of urban fabric. Martha Schwendener evaluates the results.
As Long as It's Flexible, No End for Urban Retail
Last week, a panel of retailers and developers discussed the challenges--and, ultimately, the keys to success--of urban retail. Susan Piperato reports.
"Millionaire's Tax" Hurts the Poor, Too
NYU Urban Planning professor Mitchell L. Moss says that the poor will bear a larger burden as a result of their dependence on an equally burdened MTA--whose finances are being leveraged to help the rest of the state.
The Apple Store: The City's "Seal of Approval"?
Apple stores are great revenue generators in cities, writes Brian Caulfield, but not just as a one-off. Customers tend to come back for more products and repairs, and the stores themeslves encourage plenty of cross-shopping nearby.
One Hundred Miles
County of Mendocino
planning NEXT
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Montrose County
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
