The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Cities conform to mathematical principles more closely than many people realize, in terms of density, relative population, and economies of scale.

May 22 - The Wild Side Blog - NY Times

Author Tom Vanderbilt suggests that train service has been headed in the wrong direction for the better part of a century.

May 22 - Slate.com

Climate change and irrigation schemes are drying up rivers and speeding the spread of deserts, leading to plans to move tens of millions of people.

May 22 - Guardian (UK)

A redesign for an animal shelter in St. Louis works to make a space warmer and fuzzier than the usual pound to encourage adoption. HOK Architects, the pro bono designers, are pursuing a LEED Platinum rating for the pet palace.

May 22 - Jetson Green

Underground water sensors that monitor and display moisture and soil conditions on computers are saving millions of gallons of water at golf courses.

May 22 - The New York Times

As New York City prepares to pedestrianize Times Square, <em>New York Magazine</em> profiles Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, who they call "equal parts Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses."

May 22 - New York Magazine

The American Lung Association has released its annual list, and says that despite a new interest in green initiatives, the air in many cities has gotten dirtier in the past year.

May 21 - City Mayors

Americans are much more willing to consider buying a foreclosure than in the recent past, according to a new survey by online real estate site Trulia.

May 21 - Builder Magazine

The Pittsburgh City Council has put a cap on the number of alcohol-serving establishments on the city's South Side, but property owners are crying foul.

May 21 - Pittsburg Post-Gazette

Growth in Portland's professional sports due to the expansion of Major League Soccer is threatening the life of the city's iconic Memorial Coliseum. Historians and preservationists are teaming up to save it.

May 21 - The Architect's Newspaper

FEATURE

The results are in! We asked for you ideas for reusing the empty car dealerships cropping up around the country. Urban gardens? Flying car launch pads? These ideas may seem far out, but the number one answer may surprise you.

May 21 - Nate Berg

The <em>San Francisco Chronicle</em>'s John King looks at the city's new public plaza -- a successful "small move" in the face of unrealized "big plans".

May 21 - San Francisco Chronicle

A newly-designed truck known as the "Pothole Killer" can fix a pothole with the flick of a wrist (VIDEO).

May 21 - The Infrastructurist

Expansion of Los Angeles' light rail system is moving ahead, as a new leg heads west. Though funding is secure, controversy still surrounds the route and its design.

May 21 - The Architect's Newspaper

Wendell Cox argues that the growth of the suburbs is not attributable to flight from cities, but to residents of small towns and the countryside moving to denser living.

May 21 - New Geography

Concerns over views and infrastructure blight have some in Honolulu opposing the city's plans to build its planned light rail with portions of elevated track.

May 21 - Honolulu Star-Bulletin

<em>Miller-McCune</em> talks with vertical farming innovator Dickson Despommier about why his idea is the future of food for cities and how it can go from blueprint to reality.

May 21 - Miller-McCune

Taco trucks are coming under fire in a lot of cities, as officials try to figure out how to handle the nomadic restaurants. As the Hispanic population grows, so does the popularity of the trucks.

May 20 - The Los Angeles Times

New York City has released a new manual for street designs, representing over two years of work from the Department of Transportation.

May 20 - The New York Times

In his new book 'Why Your World is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller' economist Jeff Rubin describes how 'peak oil' will reverse globalization, revitalize cities and reinvigorate Canada's manufacturing base.

May 20 - The Globe and Mail