The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
What Killed L.A.'s Streetcars?
Local lore, and Hollywood movies, have it that a conspiracy by car companies led to the dismantling of L.A.'s sprawling streetcar system to induce dependence on newly built freeways. Eric Molinsky tells the real, but no less dramatic, story.
Could Colored Pavement Cool Our Cities?
More than a third of the land in our cities is covered by black asphalt, an exemplary heat trapping surface and major contributor to the urban heat island effect. Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley Lab are studying "cool pavement" alternatives.
Feds Sketch Their Vision for D.C. to Boston High-Speed Rail
A new report released by the Federal Railroad Administration outlines more than a dozen alternatives for upgrading passenger rail service throughout the Northeast Corridor, including what high-speed rail between D.C. and Boston could look like.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
planning NEXT
Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie
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