The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

The federal investigation of Duke Energy's Feb. 2 coal ash spill sheds light not only on the company and its state regulator, but also on that of the Environmental Protection Agency and holds wider implications for the coal industry as a whole.

March 23 - The Wall Street Journal - U.S.

Tiny houses aren’t just for eco-warriors. They can also be a means for homeless and mentally ill individuals to reenter mainstream society.

March 23 - Grist

Hopes for New Jersey to be a national leader in offshore wind energy were dealt a setback when the state Board of Public Utilities rejected the financial plan of a 25-megawatt project proposed for a site three miles off the coast near Atlantic City.

March 22 - The North Jersey Record

Positively Cleveland, Northeast Ohio’s tourism bureau, has launched a new campaign, “This is Cleveland,” that takes a new tack in selling the region not for its orchestra and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but rather for its warts and all.

March 22 - James Brasuell

Lessons from a successful urban farming effort can be applied to achieve resource independence aside from just food.

March 22 - Architectural Review

The cautionary tale of “a very suburban kerfuffle” in Blaine, Minnesota: residents of a “large, multi-builder housing development” who once opposed a multi-family residential development in the neighborhood now lament a lack of retail.

March 22 - Streets.MN

A new web-based program, Global Forest Watch, provides access to almost real-time visualization of forests around the world.

March 22 - ASLA The Dirt

Jonathan Geeting argues that Philadelphia’s recently proposed affordable housing program is focusing on the wrong problem—in Philadelphia, housing is quite affordable, but people are still too poor to afford it.

March 21 - Next City

New Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh has installed a large data dashboard in his office to track the performance of everything from city services, hot line call volume, and social media sentiment.

March 21 - The Boston Globe

Few details are available about just how troubled the financial situation is at the country’s most recognizable bikeshare program, but it’s possible that Citi Bike will need a cash infusion or a new model to stay in business.

March 21 - The Wall Street Journal

He might be an outsider to some New Yorkers, but Mitchell Silver is one of the most recognizable and respected planners in the country. For his new job as New York’s parks commissioner, Silver will oversee 29,000 acres of parkland and 1,900 parks.

March 21 - New York Times

Vancouver’s Transportation 2040 plan allowed for the easing of parking minimums for residential developments in parts of the city, and now city planners are beginning to explore where and how condos can be built without parking.

March 21 - The Province

A unanimous vote by the Carson city council for the 45-day moratorium on all oil drilling, with or without fracking, was done in response to an application for drilling by Occidental Petroleum even though the company agreed not to utilize fracking.

March 21 - Los Angeles Times

In a rural farming community in California's Central Valley called Hanford, downtown revitalization means protecting and renovating its historic buildings. Luckily for Hanford, that won't cost very much.

March 21 - The Sentinel

Congress is working on increasing height limits in Washington D.C. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-California) based pitching increased the limits by appealing to that fundamental American passion: football.

March 21 - Roll Call

The already brilliant city of Chicago is soon to get another big draw—the extension of a riverwalk promenade between State and Lake streets.

March 21 - Chi.Streetsblog

In a recent article for the Washington Post, Matthew Dolan details the sub-par state of bus service in Detroit—a city where residents live without cars in quickly growing numbers.

March 21 - The Washington Post

Several planning efforts are in the process to rethink Washington Square Park in Downtown Kansas City. In an already bustling part of Downtown, stakeholders are considering the changes ahead of a forthcoming influx of daytime working population.

March 20 - Kansas City Star

Many people know Milwaukee as the Algonquin translation for “The Good Land.” But unfortunate changes in the water table underneath the city now make Milwaukee the sinking city. Experts disagree why.

March 20 - Urban Milwaukee

The Federal Transit Authority has granted one of the final approvals needed for the Purple Line—a 16-mile light rail line between Bethesda and New Carrollton in Maryland.

March 20 - Greater Greater Washington