The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

The three very different stories of the building trades in Atlanta, Denver, and Portland show just how much urban development patterns affect workers.

February 6 - Shelterforce

Ferries, New York City's first commuter mode, will return big-time if Mayor Bill de Blasio gets his way. Judging by how well the proposal in his February 3 State of the City address was received, he will.

February 6 - The New York Times - N.Y. / Region

"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man." -Heraclitus, as quoted by Plato in Cratylus.

February 6 - Vox

Movoto has produced a pair of rankings: "The 10 Nerdiest Cities in America" and "The 10 Nerdiest Small Cities in America." According to the lists, there must be something in the water in Georgia.

February 6 - Movoto Blog

For people who'd rather own a smart phone than a set of wheels, new types of mobile tech are making it increasingly easy to get around cities. A recent report ranks the metro areas that are making best use of these technologies. On top: Austin, TX

February 6 - Streetsblog USA

Seven incredibly useful market research tools for local governments.

February 5 - Civicly

Just as plummeting oil prices have caused state and federal political leaders to consider raising gas taxes, leaders in developing nations, both oil producers and consumers, are considering reductions in national energy subsidies.

February 5 - The New York Times

Wood burners are a common source of nostalgia—and particle emissions that wreak havoc on public health. To improve air quality and prevent asthma, heart attacks, and more, the EPA has passed its first rule change for wood burning heaters since 1988.

February 5 - The Hill

Recent attention from National Geographic justified fans of Oklahoma City ready to include the city among the world's best cities.

February 5 - The Journal Record (OK)

Amid the constant battle between Seattle and Portland, Seattle-based writer Eric Scigliano responds to an Oregonian article praising Seattle's transit system. Praise is all right, writes Scigliano, but the Oregonian missed a few lowlights.

February 5 - Crosscut

Even as innovations like ridesharing take hold in tech-friendly San Francisco, the percentage of trips taken by personal auto is stuck at just under 50 percent.

February 5 - Streetsblog SF

When two roads meet in William Penn's Forest, what do you do? New plans from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation say, increasingly, you build a roundabout. No fewer than forty are on the drawing board throughout the state.

February 5 - Philadelphia Magazine

An ambitious new transportation plan is yet another step in the transformation of South Boston from a gritty, blue-collar waterfront to one of the nation's most promising zones of innovation.

February 5 - Next City

In a post from the new Plan.Place blog, the author explores the city with a two-year-old as his guide and offers reflections on viewing the urban landscape anew--from an elevation of 34 inches and with a renewed sense of wonder.

February 5 - Plan.Place

What time did you leave for work this morning? What time should you have left for work this morning?

February 5 - FlowingData

Venice Beach, one of the most popular tourist destinations and recognizable public spaces in Los Angeles, has long been the site of regulation battles. Now a neighborhood group is suing the city over what it perceives as rampant lawlessness.

February 4 - CBS Los Angeles

The developers of a high profile, $421 million development in Cleveland are requesting a special tax district that could raise $30 million over three decades.

February 4 - Cleveland.com

New York may be the most famous example of the parks becoming the most conspicuous signifiers of neighborhoods for the haves, versus the have-nots, but Inga Saffron hopes that cities everywhere can find ways to even the playing fields.

February 4 - The New Republic

The commuter train had left Grand Central Terminal on Tuesday evening and hit the Jeep at a grade crossing in Valhalla, Westchester County at 6:30 pm. Five passengers died in the lead car of the train which was engulfed in flames from the impact.

February 4 - Transportation Nation

A Miami Herald editorial expresses concern for a growing movement in the state legislature to raid the funding pool made possible by the recently approved Amendment 1, a statewide environmental-conservation funding measure.

February 4 - Miami Herald