The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

The Urbanophile reports from RailVolution in Boston, including a video interview with John Robert Smith, CEO of Reconnecting America.

November 7 - The Urbanophile

Neal Peirce says that there is finally light at the end of the tunnel in the debate over homelessness, and a consensus that stopgaps don't work. The real answer is to, duh, give them homes.

November 6 - Citiwire.net

BLOG POST

If you’ve ever worked in distressed communities, you’ve faced the dilemma that there simply is no private market for what you want to see built.<span>  </span>You can chip away at the problem of vacant land with thoughtful affordable housing developments or, if you’re lucky, a new recreation center but by and large, large amounts of vacancy remain and impact the psyche of those that live nearby.<span>  </span>So working closely with residents, and really listening, has sparked a whole new sub-discipline in our world of urban planning and design - temporary use.<span>  </span> <p class="MsoNormal"> The shrinking cities movement shined a light on the potential of ad-hoc reuse and programming some time ago but so too has groups like the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

November 6 - Scott Page

An exhibit currently at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. explains how the architecture and design of parking lots evolved, and why. Meanwhile, the Parking Show of Shows conference takes place nearby with a different take.

November 6 - The Washington Post

Atlanta tops a list of the most polluted cities in the country, according to an analysis of EPA data by <em>Forbes</em>.

November 6 - Forbes

The Living Building Challenge is a new environmental rating system that focuses on required environmental design elements, diverging dramatically from the credit-based approach of the built environment's dominant rating system, LEED.

November 6 - Metropolis Magazine

The Winterville, GA Planning Commission rejected the idea of creating a special "assisted residential district" for a center for developmentally disabled people, saying that the proposal was too vague.

November 6 - The Athens Banner-Herald

Promoting his upcoming book on transportation planning, Randal O'Toole says his central argument is that rail is a dead end and driverless car technologies are the answer to our congestion problems.

November 6 - The Antiplanner

Last month saw the debut of one of the world's longest footbridges, which also happens to be 100% solar-powered. 36,500 people are projected to walk across the bridge each week.

November 6 - Inhabitat

What's this? The Wall Street Journal's 'car guy' - the reporter who writes about cars and roads, is .....without a car? As difficult as it may be to believe, Joseph White is now a carless urbanite in DC. Here is his first column in his new lifestyle.

November 6 - The Wall Street Journal

The U.S. Senate has approved an extension of the tax credit for 1st time homebuyers, which is set to expire in November. The House could vote on Thursday.

November 6 - Builder Magazine

While a number of mega retail developers crashed and burned during the recession, some smaller developers have thrived.

November 6 - Retail Traffic Magazine

In 1968, the Bureau of Indian Affairs put a freeze on development in an area of Arizona that the Navajo and Hopi both claimed until the tribes could settle. It wasn't until 2006 that an agreement was reached.

November 5 - Los Angeles Times

A new study from ULI details the transportation costs for households around the San Francisco Bay Area, and finds that SFers spend on average $500 less each month than suburban dwellers in the area.

November 5 - The San Francisco Chronicle

Growth is at a standstill in most western boomtowns, but not in well-planned, thriving South Jordan, UT. An expedited permitting process and good planning are given credit as catalysts for growth.

November 5 - Desert News

Richard Moe, longtime president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, has announced his retirement. His tenure brought about a major change in the way the group interacts with the federal government to preserve the nation's historic sites.

November 5 - The Washington Post

BLOG POST

<pre> <span style="font-size: x-small">Over t</span><span><span style="font-size: x-small">he next few months, Congress will continue to debate health insurance reform, and in particular, whether to create a &quot;public option&quot;- </span></span><span><span style="font-size: x-small">a government-financed insurance company which would compete with private health insurers.  Opponents of the public option fear that the government package might drive private insurers out of business. Are such concerns legitimate? American transportation history may give ammunition to both supporters and opponents of the public option. </span></span> </pre> <pre>

November 5 - Michael Lewyn

It's no surprise when voters in the college town of Davis, California, say no to a housing development. But it is a surprise when Modesto says "whoa" to growth, and when development-averse Santa Barbara and Ventura reject new controls.

November 5 - California Planning & Development Report

Developer Bart Blatstein reimagined an old brewery in the outskirts of Philadelphia into an adapted Italian piazza. Locals worried it would be be too theme park-y, but community leaders are pleased with the results.

November 5 - The New York Times

A group of cyclists in Los Angeles is hoping to move forward in talks with the city to establish car-free days, based on the ciclovia street closures originated in Colombia.

November 5 - Los Angeles Times