The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

At a town hall meeting this week, President Obama proposed a new initiative that would give unemployed homeowners more wiggle room on their late mortgage payments.

July 8 - The Washington Post

As anemic budget becomes a new reality rather than a mere interlude, cities like Atlanta, Houston, and Sacramento close down pools to cut back expenses. School-age children with downtime in the summer suffer most.

July 8 - The New York Times

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) says that the US economy could lose up to 600,000 jobs if a transportation reauthorization bill is not passed by September 30.

July 8 - Streetsblog

Shutting down the Interstate 405 corridor for two days on July 16 and 17 is akin to clipping L.A.'s mobility wings. Commuters and residents in the region are making contingency plans to circumvent heavy traffic congestion next weekend.

July 7 - The New York Times

A post at <em>Fast Company</em> describes the House in the Outskirts of Brussels as business in front and a party in back. (SEE IMAGES).

July 7 - Fast Company

A discrimination lawsuit filed against the federal government and the state of Louisiana was settled this week in favor of homeowners who claimed that the way funds were distributed was biased against the poor.

July 7 - The New York Times

BLOG POST

<p> <em>&quot;The secret of Disney is doing things you don&#39;t need, and doing them well, and realizing that you needed them all along...Walt Disney was ahead of everyone, always.&quot;</em> </p> <p> <em>-Isaac Asimov, interviewed by Leonard Maltin<br /> </em> </p>

July 7 - Tim Halbur

The legacy of Los Angeles murals has all but left the city, buried under sign ordinances, billboard policy and tagging. Tanner Blackman in the Dept. of City Planning Code Studies Section is working to free up the knot of regulation.

July 7 - KCET

As the downturn in the market physically reshapes the metropolitan regions of the United States, the shifting populations and economies of its cities and suburban areas are becoming increasingly intertwined.

July 7 - The Atlantic

A draft report from San Diego reveals that California's SB 375 law, which passed in 2008, was ineffective in reducing sprawl in the long term, Ethan Elkind writes for the UCLA UC Berkeley Legal Planet blog.

July 7 - Legal Planet

FEATURE

Can a city be driven by the noble goals of democracy, diversity, and equity? Harvard professor Susan Fainstein thinks so, and outlines how in her new book, <em>The Just City.</em> Victor Negrete has a review.

July 7 - Victor Negrete

The projects across the country having the biggest impact on the feel and function of cities are more often than not the work of landscape architects, according to the American Society of Landscape Architects.

July 7 - THE DIRT

Young creative people are moving to Detroit, launching new businesses and civic ventures that are creating a new identity for a city plagued by associations with decline.

July 7 - The New York Times

Cargo bikes, tandems and even ice cream bikes - this photo-essay highlights the great variety of bicycles being used in Amsterdam. Charles Siegel hopes the pictures will get Americans over their timidness when it comes to practical bicycling.

July 7 - Preservation Institute Blog

With a growing demand for wireless internet, mobile communication networks may encroach on public space, writes Michael Chen, adjunct assistant professor at the Pratt Institute School of Architecture.

July 7 - Urban Omnibus

New York City's Dept. of City Planning says that it is committed to fostering transit-oriented development. But in neighborhood after neighborhood, the city is downzoning around the corner from the subway, argues Noah Kazis.

July 6 - Streetsblog

The American highway is in shambles, and there is not enough money to fix it, reports Zach Rosenberg of Car and Driver Magazine.

July 6 - Car and Driver

Male cyclists outnumber females cyclists in New York City three to one. New York City lags behind Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Portland, Oregon, in female ridership.

July 6 - The New York Times

The US Department of Transportation will begin accepting applications for the transportation grants on August 22nd.

July 6 - Governing

The addition of the Bradley terminal and modernization projects across LAX are pushing the airport back into relevance, Dan Weikel reports for the Los Angeles Times.

July 6 - Los Angeles Times