The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Rick Harrison believes that city planning has turned into a faith-based series of architectural commandments that demonize the suburbs and cast out naysayers.

January 5 - New Geography

BLOG POST

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: small; font-family: 'Times New Roman'">In coming weeks doctoral applications in planning are due. Why apply? </span> </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: small; font-family: 'Times New Roman'">For professional planners, a PhD sometimes sounds interesting compared with doing a regular job in a municipality. Some designers remember studio professors who seemed to float into class, unprepared, for a few hours per week. Compared with the ups and downs of private design practice, this can seem quite appealing. Of course, some people genuinely like studying and research, want to make a contribution in that area, and have a flair for teaching. </span> </p>

January 5 - Ann Forsyth

Harvard GSD graduate Ju-Hyun Kim thinks we should be building amusement parks as skyscrapers, cutting down on the costly commute to the outside of town.

January 5 - Fast Company

MacDill Air Force Base has created a snarl of traffic in Tampa. Transportation planners are at a loss to find a solution so far.

January 5 - The St. Petersburg Times

The state's energy administrator says that "renewable energy will be a driver of Hawaii's economy at least for the next decade."

January 5 - Sustainable Business Oregon

This op-ed writer does not look kindly at the 7-year legacy of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. As Gov. Jerry Brown addresses the $28 billion budget deficit left by his predecessor, Joe Mathews considers Schwarzenegger's legacy.

January 5 - Los Angeles Times - Opinion

With the outsourcing business booming, Indian companies are building sexy new office towers with the goal of attracting the hottest software developers and consultants.

January 4 - The New York Times

Blair Kamin reflects on the soon-to-be-ex-mayor Richard Daley's legacy, his "passion to build," and how Chicago might be shaped without his influence.

January 4 - The Chicago Tribune

A handful of residential code revisions went into effect in Ohio on January 1st, including an energy conservation code with stricter standards on insulation that is causing an uproar among homebuilders.

January 4 - Builder Magazine

With few exceptions, America's largest homebuilders are slower than companies in other fields to act on environmental concerns, according to a survey conducted by Calvert Asset Management Company.

January 4 - New Urban Network

A new report from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group PIRG's report estimates that road construction has cost the American public $600 billion since the highway system began.

January 4 - Streetsblog Capitol Hill

Daniel Nairn reviews Robert Kirkman's new book, The Ethics of Metropolitan Growth.

January 4 - SustainableCitiesCollective

Four billion pounds of old carpet get dumped every year in the United States, and five pounds of oil goes into producing a single pound of nylon. New recycling methods could save all that oil by producing new nylon from old with little energy cost.

January 4 - greentechmedia

Winter storms have combined with bad road engineering, geography, funding shortfalls and inequities in Sonoma County, California. drivers and cyclists can expect an unusually rough ride this year and more to come.

January 4 - The Press Democrat

Sarah Goodyear at Grist gives seven ideas for New Year's resolutions you might consider for improving your community, including planting something, going for a walk, and getting to know your neighbors.

January 4 - Grist

Yonah Freemark over at the Transport Politic presents an exhaustive catalog of openings and construction of new transit in the U.S., from the Wickford Junction Commuter Rail Extension in Rhode Island to Phase 1A of the Expo Line in Los Angeles.

January 4 - the transport politic

The city of El Paso is hoping a new plan will breathe life back into formerly booming streets sucked dry after a freeway replaced them as the main entrance to town.

January 3 - El Paso Times

National Geographic tackles the controversial issue of population growth, and the sustainability of a growing population. Should we worry about maxing out the planet? Not necessarily, according to Nat. Geo.

January 3 - National Geographic

This slideshow from <em>The Guardian</em> looks inside some of Detroit's historic and decaying buildings.

January 3 - Guardian

This piece from <em>The Globe and Mail</em> takes a look at the history of Vancouver's waterfront, and how it gradually became public land.

January 3 - The Globe and Mail