The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

A new Safeway in Washington, D.C. is breaking the mold in grocery design by tucking the parking away behind the entrance and putting the market upstairs in a 2-story building, with smaller shops for lease on the street.

June 22 - The Washington Post

According to Robert Weissbourd, the secret is "positive mobility"; that is, the ability to be in constant motion, turning over with people and businesses coming and going.

June 22 - Citiwire.net

Architecture firm Woods/Bagot has been contracted to perform a "super green" makeover on the XiXi Wetlands in Hangzhou, China.

June 22 - Metropolis Magazine

Planners in Acton, Massachusetts used Second Life as a pr and outreach tool to engage citizens in planning a key commercial area.

June 22 - Cornerstones Blog

The mayor, non-profits and a growing section of Detroit residents are getting behind the idea of making Detroit smaller by demolishing buildings and cutting off dead sections of the city.

June 21 - The New York Times

New York City's Department of Transportation has been experimenting with "warm-mix asphalt", which emits fewer emissions because it only has to be heated to 200 degrees.

June 21 - NY DOT

As Blackhawk fans crammed into downtown Chicago to celebrate their Stanley Cup victory last week, the editors at Pruned were reminded of a fantastical proposal for a downtown stadium built into the tops of skyscrapers.

June 21 - Pruned

In an op-ed, architect Hillel Schocken calls for greater density in Israel, which he says has 1/5th the public density of Paris.

June 21 - Haaretz

18.6 million American households –renters and homeowners alike – spend more than half their income on housing, according to a new study by Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies.

June 21 - City Limits

Black Hawk, Colorado, population 100, has seen increased traffic since building a casino in 1991. Officials say their narrow, Gold Rush-era streets are not up to accommodating both bikes and vehicles, so bikes are verboten.

June 21 - The Guardian U.K.

Some of the resistance that killed a major smart growth project in Alameda, California came from environmentalists. Josh Harkinson argues that its time for enviros to stop fighting smart growth and embrace density.

June 21 - Mother Jones

What is the toll that communities, especially poorer ones pay when locally owned banks with local ties are taken over by larger ones? This article describes how the loss of just such a bank has affected Maywood, a working class suburb of Chicago.

June 21 - The New York Times - Business Day

Patrick Arden reports that "No other parks system in America relies as much on other people's money" as New York. Arden examines the public-private partnership, and problems inherent in relying on donations to maintain parks.

June 21 - Next American City

FEATURE

June 21 - Dan Shilling

<em>Slate</em> is soliciting ideas from its readers to improve the nation's transportation system.

June 21 - Slate

A new community garden on the Intel corporate campus in Hillsboro, Oregon is just one of many such plots that have been added to corporate sites across the country.

June 20 - The Oregonian

The number of families in homeless shelters increased by 7% in 2009, according to a new report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

June 20 - USA Today

Officials in Tempe, Arizona and Maricopa County are using federal stimulus money to help end chronic homelessness by providing permanent housing options.

June 20 - The Arizona Republic

A new rule proposed by federal regulators would allow bank investments made for neighborhood stabilization efforts and donations of foreclosed properties to be count towards compliance with the Community Reinvestment Act.

June 20 - Reuters

Double-parking can be hazardous to cyclists. But police in San Francisco aren't enforcing the law when double-parking happens during church services. Some argue that the rule of law must be followed.

June 20 - The New York Times