The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

This week, a New York Supreme Court Justice declared unconstitutional a tax covering a 12-county area including the city of New York and its surrounding suburbs, creating a $1.26 billion hole in this year's MTA budget.

August 24 - Bloomberg BusinessWeek

As the ways in which cities across the U.S. are utilizing the web continues to increase, open data is changing the way citizens interact with their government. Philadelphia is one city using information to level the power playing field.

August 24 - Next American City

A series of massive urban stimulus plans have been announced recently by several Chinese cities. Economists are split on whether the projects can speed up the country's growth rate and accommodate the influx of urban migrants, reports Chris Oliver.

August 24 - The Wall Street Journal

This week, Philadelphia officially enacted the long-overdue replacement to its antiquated 1962 zoning code. City leaders hope the simplified and modernized code will encourage development.

August 24 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

With the world's supposedly fashionable neighborhoods "increasingly as banal, antisocial and plain dull as any suburb," Feargus O'Sullivan explains why he's perfectly happy to have ditched inner London for the burbs.

August 23 - The Atlantic Cities

Money Magazine lists the top 20 best 'small cities' (pop. 50,000 to 300,000). Located in all corners of the U.S., these cities offer small town charm with big city amenities.

August 23 - Money

BLOG POST

Last week the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace published a report, In Search of the Global Middle Class: A New Index, by researcher Uri Dadush, which uses car ownership rates as an indication of the size of a country's middle class

August 23 - Todd Litman

A massive $1.1 billion plan to develop residential and retail uses on land adjacent to the University of Southern California's South L.A. campus was halted by a committee of the Los Angeles City Council this week over concerns about displacement.

August 23 - Los Angeles Times

In a campaign event this morning GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney was set to announce his energy strategy for America. Romney's plan focuses on decreasing regulation, while increasing off-shore drilling, to reach energy independence.

August 23 - The New York Times

If two major business and labor groups have their way, the 1970 CA Environmental Quality Act will be 'modernized', to quote the CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. The CA Alliance for Jobs has joined SVLG, as has a top aide of the governor.

August 23 - Capitol Alert (Sacramento Bee blog)

With drought conditions not seen in the U.S. since the middle of the last century, the battle to maintain the lushest lawn in the neighborhood has heated up. <em>The Dirt</em> bloggers report on the growing trend of lawn painting.

August 23 - THE DIRT

Vacant lots in American cities consume vast amounts of land, which many are now recognizing as places of opportunity. Some cities and citizens are transforming once empty urban spaces into vibrant community-fostering places.

August 23 - The Nature of Cities

As one of North America's largest suburbs, Mississauga is joining some of its neighbors in the Greater Toronto Area in planning an unprecedented effort to replace its suburban roots with something more urban.

August 23 - The Globe and Mail

Will Doig believes that the choice of Tampa for the Republican National Convention is no coincidence: sprawling and practically devoid of public spaces or pedestrian facilities, it is a monument to not investing in the future.

August 23 - Salon

Delhi attempts to cut its self-imposed red tape with a unified transportation agency.

August 23 - The Wall Street Journal

BLOG POST

<p> This morning over at Atlantic Cities, <a href="http://www.theatlanticcities.com/politics/2012/08/has-london-mayors-office-been-too-successful/3024/">Richard Florida aptly refuted</a> an <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2012/aug/16/abolish-london-mayor-boris-johnson">opinion piece by Kevin Meagher</a> that appeared in the Guardian last week advocating for doing away with the position of Mayor in London. Florida lays out several strong arguments in favor of a strong elected mayor who can act as an advocate for his or her city. </p>

August 22 - Jess Zimbabwe

No this isn't about a gathering of "Knight Rider" enthusiasts. Rather than speaking to their leather jacket-clad drivers, the cars being tested in Michigan communicate with each other, with the goal of improving safety on the nation’s highways.

August 22 - The New York Times

Chris Haller parses the data in a recent report on Internet use for implications for how communities should manage their public outreach strategies.

August 22 - Engaging Cities

Astrophysicist Adam Frank takes a bird's eye view of the beautiful and perilous ways in which cities - "the defining element of human civilization" - exhibit the laws of thermodynamics.

August 22 - NPR

As Vanessa Quirk reports, the house Frank Lloyd Wright designed for his son, David, is one of the renowned designer's "more unusual architectural specimens." Located in Arcadia, Arizona, the home is at imminent risk of demolition by developers.

August 22 - ArchDaily