The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

The Los Angeles City Council has unanimously approved a measure that will require an anti-graffiti coating on all new buildings in the city.

October 4 - NBC

Intercity rail service has begun operations in Virginia, connecting Lynchburg and Washington D.C.

October 4 - The Washington Post

BLOG POST

<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"> The 2009 <a href="http://www.niagarafalls2009.ca/english/index.htm">Canadian Institute of Planners conference in Niagara Falls</a> ended on a remarkable note.<span>  </span>A talented speaker and unforeseen circumstance converged brilliantly to demonstrate both the nature of the crises we are facing, but also the resilience we will need to address them.

October 4 - Michael Dudley

A 15-year-old ban on biking and walking to school in Saratoga Springs, New York may be lifted, after one bike-friendly parent challenged the policy.

October 4 - Governing

To celebrate the Republic of China's 60th anniversary, a huge party was planned. A huge effort was also undertaken to scientifically make sure no bad weather would spoil the event.

October 4 - The New York Times

Michael S. Thompson of the Chicago Honey Co-op discusses his urban beekeeping operation and how it provides jobs to otherwise hard-to-employ people.

October 3 - Orion Magazine

A new report from the Economic Research Service looks at how the economic recession is affecting rural areas. For the most part, things are a lot worse in America's nonmetro areas.

October 3 - The Daily Yonder

The Municipal Art Society of New York talks with four young people who are actively involved in addressing the planning challenges facing their communities.

October 3 - Municipal Art Society

The French government hass announced plans to install electric car charging stations throughout the country.

October 3 - The Wall Street Journal

A two-minute call on a cell phone is now a window into local history in Orange, New Jersey, where a new project has created an audio tour/history lesson out of more than 30 recordings of local residents.

October 3 - The New Jersey Star-Ledger

The Wall St. Journal assembled a panel to determine which cities will be the next 'youth-magnets,' using factors like economic diversity and lifestyle to make their selections. Number one? A tie between Washington, D.C. and Seattle.

October 2 - The Wall St. Journal

As we learned in <em>The Big Sort</em>, America is sorting itself into enclaves of people with similar beliefs. In <em>Whitopia</em>, Rich Benjamin shows that the fastest growing areas are also the most white.

October 2 - Miller-McCune

Ken Smith won an international design competition to turn a 1,300 acre former military base in Orange County, CA into an urban park to rival Central Park in NY. His plan is ambitious, and could be sunk by politics and finances.

October 2 - The Los Angeles Times

A new iPhone App/public art experience allows the user to take a stroll through New York City and 'see' visionary buildings that never got built, ranging from Buckminster Fuller's dome to Antoni Gaudi's cathedral.

October 2 - BLDBLOG

At a recent conference, international architects explained their ideas for designing and planning compact, shared, and flexible housing to meet the needs of today's households.

October 2 - Urban Omnibus

Rumor had it that the site of the infamous Pruitt-Igoe projects remains empty because the foundations are impossible to demolish. Turns out that the problem is politics, not pilings.

October 2 - Urban Review STL

The Federal Reserve announced that 32% of loan applications were denied last year, and applications on the whole were down by a third from 2007.

October 1 - Builder Magazine

A Wall St. Journal reporter takes a five-day sightseeing trip to Los Angeles, sans rental car. Getting the Getty Villa and Watts Towers were two of the more challenging forays.

October 1 - Wall St Journal

HUD-subsidized housing in transit-oriented developments could become more expensive as it ages out and TOD becomes more popular, says a new study by AARP, Reconnecting America and the National Housing Trust.

October 1 - Reconnecting America

Renewable energy production takes a lot of water. With droughts and shortages plaguing many areas, the limited supply could crimp the ability of renewable energy providers to create green energy.

October 1 - The New York Times