The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson is trying to understand how natural selection works at various levels. His new lab: the city of Binghamton, New York.

June 17 - Nature

A Yale University survey yielded a surprising result: climate change policy is becoming less polarizing among Americans of different political affiliations.

June 17 - D.C. Streesblog

Jeff Wood of Reconnecting America interviewed a variety of thought leaders at the recent Congress for the New Urbanism. In this video, he talks with Jeff Tumlin about getting Santa Monica, California to embrace growth.

June 16 - Reconnecting America

Henry Gifford, an energy-efficient building expert in NYC, challenges the LEED certification standards in an acrimonious lawsuit against the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

June 16 - Miller-McCune

Charles Marohn explains how cities and towns failed to consider the future expense of expanded infrastructure to new suburban developments.

June 16 - New Urban Network

AP reports on the Anderson Forecast from UCLA that looks into CA's housing slump and shows two distinct markets, one on the rise and the other (single-family housing) falling.

June 16 - AP via Bloomberg Business Week

In city after city, cyclists are hit, injured, and killed less often when using bike-sharing than when riding their personal bicycles.

June 16 - Streetsblog

The Tappan Zee Bridge, which crosses the Hudson, is falling apart at the seams. So why is it taking so long to repair?

June 16 - City Journal

The truth is, it works: a new report shows that energy efficiency standards placed on utilities result in less demand and greater savings.

June 16 - Grist

Rahm Emmanuel's latest appointee is transportation secretary Gabe Klein, who, columnist John Hilkevitch writes, "...promises to shake things up here."

June 16 - The Chicago Tribune

Hannibal Square in Winter Park, Florida has a long history as an African-American community, dating back to the 19th century. Today, a community land trust, a redevelopment agency and other groups are approaching the community with different goals.

June 16 - Next American City

Two major redevelopment projects - Treasure Island and Parkmerced - have been approved after a lengthy process by San Francisco's Board of Supervisors.

June 16 - The Architect's Newspaper

The National Trust for Historic Preservation releases a list each year highlighting their Top 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. This year's list includes buttes, hospitals, forts, alleys and John Coltrane's home in Dix Hills, New York.

June 15 - National Trust For Historic Preservation

With the unlikely help of a group called the Mayors Automotive Coalition, down-at-the-heels towns are reinventing themselves - in various shades of green.

June 15 - OnEarth

Vancouver, Canada, famous for its dense downtown development, is changing tack slightly with a transit corridor from downtown to the airport, bringing building heights down mostly to 4 to 12 stories.

June 15 - New Urban Network

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians recently got advice from a sustainability consultant on ways the tribe could cut their energy use be more sustainable.

June 15 - Cherokee One Feather

Want to prevent crime and keep people safe in traffic? Jan Gehl says the solution is to mix up pedestrians, bikes and cars into "shared spaces."

June 15 - Streetsblog

That's the dilemma with Interstate 81 in Syracuse, NY, an elevated freeway that cuts through the center of the city. At the end of its life expectancy, planners are debating its fate.

June 15 - NCPR News

Jay Walljasper says U.S. cities are greatly lacking in pedestrian-only shopping districts, and points to their success in Europe as a model.

June 15 - Shareable

An editorial from John McManus at Big Builder Online says that the downturn in the economy is pushing developers to break out of the single-family housing box and experiment with mixed-use.

June 15 - Big Builder Online