The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Cracking Beneath the Surface: America's Invisibly Eroding Roadways

In need of an underground overhaul, the Capital Beltway exemplifies the deteriorating conditions of 1/3 of the nation's roadways.

April 3 - The Washington Post

New Study Details the Deadly Effects of China's Air Pollution Problem

New details from a landmark study on the leading causes of death worldwide presents a gloomy picture of the effect of air pollution on the health of China's residents. The toll is 25 million healthy years of life snatched from the population.

April 3 - The New York Times

BLOG POST

An Easier Way To Fight Sprawl

Instead of always fighting to make sprawl development harder, let's focus our energy on making great infill development easier.

April 3 - Norman Wright

Santa Clara's Smart Solution for Providing Free Wi-Fi

The city of Santa Clara is piggybacking on the installation of connected, smart utility meters to blanket the city in a publicly accessible, free, wireless network.

April 3 - Gigaom

Shared Space Brings Shared Bonhomie to U.K. Village Center

The U.K. village of Poynton recently removed the traffic lights, signs, lanes, and even curbs from its center. The result? Rather than chaos, a film claims the project has helped revitalize the town's traditional center.

April 3 - The Atlantic Cities


Embracing Placemaking's Freak Factor

Realizing that overly controlled environments rarely breed the kind of innovation and culture that make cities great, Scott Doyon gets down with the funky and unpredictable.

April 3 - PlaceShakers

Stop the Madness: New Thinking Needed for Prioritizing Transportation Projects

For architecture critic Inga Saffron, a $900 million project to improve a South Jersey interchange illustrates the madness of transportation funding priorities.

April 3 - philly.com


BLOG POST

Density Done Well, and Not Just Downtown

It’s an understatement to say that the “D-Word” is a controversial subject in cities across North America. It needn’t be so though, and shouldn't be, as when it’s done well, density is immensely important to the success of cities and regions.

April 2 - Brent Toderian

Los Angeles Smog Skyline Zoom

Inspiring Ideas for Solving L.A.'s Biggest Challenges

With 279 submissions received, the pubic voting period has begun for determining who will receive the $1,000,000 in grants being awarded to improve the quality of life in Los Angeles along eight key indicators.

April 2 - Good

Street Vendors: Supporters or Spoilers of Public Space?

Ethan Kent, Enrique Penalosa, and Jonathan Crush offer contrasting perspectives on the effect of informal street vending on public spaces.

April 2 - Next City

ASLA Launches National Landscape Architecture Month

The American Society of Landscape Architects and its local chapters are organizing a series of events during April to celebrate National Landscape Architecture Month. The theme of this year's events is "Healthy Living Through Design."

April 2 - ASLA.org

Can Office Conversions Ease London's Housing Shortage?

As a property buying binge by the global super-rich makes parts of London "more international, more expensive and more empty," the government is looking to ease the conversion of offices to residences. Can this ease the city's housing shortage?

April 2 - The Wall Street Journal

A Contrarian View on New York's Penn Station

When it comes to New York's two rail stations, there's the iconic Grand Central Terminal that just celebrated its centennial, and then there's Penn Station - which all mourn because the original was razed in 1963 - except the NY Post's Bob McManus.

April 2 - New York Post

Atlanta Plans for Transit Hub While Ridership Tumbles

Despite falling ridership numbers on the region's public transit system (bucking the nationwide trend), the Georgia Department of Transportation is studying options for building a multi-modal transit hub in downtown Atlanta.

April 2 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

6 Keys to a Better Life in L.A. - On Foot

Traversing Los Angeles without a car can be a pain compared to cities like New York or Boston. But avowed "foot soldier" Alissa Walker offers 6 simple ways to live a healthier, happier, and wealthier life in Los Angeles simply by ditching the car.

April 2 - Los Angeles Magazine

Vision for Chicago Riverwalk Set to Get Big Check from Feds

An ambitious vision for transforming a six-block segment of the Chicago River into six themed recreation areas looks almost certain to become a reality now that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has promised the project a $100 million federal loan.

April 2 - Chi.Streetsblog

Chinese Cities Take Steps to Tame the Housing Dragon

According to Michael Pettis, who teaches finance at the University of Beijing and is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, China "is awash in cash and credit," stoking fears of an out of control housing bubble.

April 2 - The New York Times

In Bloomberg, NYC Preservationists Find a Friend

During Michael Bloomberg's time in office, New York City has protected more historic sites than under any of his predecessors. The 41 new or expanded historic districts have developers fuming over what they see as planning overreach.

April 2 - The Wall Street Journal

Transportation Secretary on Spending Binge Before Leaving Office

Bus rapid transit projects, separated bike lanes and a collection of streetcar systems are being unexpectedly funded by outgoing Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who's relishing his final days in office with an unprecedented spending spree.

April 1 - Planetizen April 1st Edition

Broken Traffic Light

IBM Toughs Destroy Cleveland's Traffic Lights After City Pirates Smart City Technology

The tech giant discovered an illegally obtained version of its smart city application running in the beleaguered Ohio city, optimizing traffic signals. IBM's Enforcement Division responded immediately.

April 1 - Planetizen April 1st Edition

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Home and Land Services Coordinator

Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners

Associate/Senior Planner

Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development

Senior Planner

Heyer Gruel & Associates PA

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