The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

In an interview with the British inventor James Dyson, Ben Schiller discusses the future of engineering and design in America and the fallacies behind much "green" design.

March 3 - Fast Company

BLOG POST

<p> Returning to San Francisco from a trip to New York City, I ruminated on my first experience of staying in midtown in the city in which I was raised. The city is different, of course. Times Square has fulfilled its <em>Blade Runner</em> destiny, and blue Grecian “Greatest Coffee in the World” cups have been supplanted with those from Starbucks. What stayed with me, however, was a brief exchange with another attendee of the same conference for which I was in town. “Everything is so expensive” she lamented. “I see people with yogurts and sandwiches and other things that don’t seem to cost too much, but I don’t know where they get them.” “Oh, there’s plenty of stuff around here” I replied. “You just have to look.”  </p>

March 2 - Lisa Feldstein

Emily Badger has produced a thoroughly researched article on "The 20 Characters You'll Meet on Every Neighborhood Email List." We think you might recognize a few of these folks.

March 2 - The Atlantic Cities

Eric Jaffe discusses new charts released last week that purport to show the continued decline of vehicle-miles traveled in the United States, and wonders if increased urbanism can be credited as the cause.

March 2 - The Atlantic Cities

A day after introducing an ambitious economic development plan for Chicago, mayor Rahm Emanuel wasted little time in unveiling a crucial element for implementing the plan - a public-private mechanism for funding infrastructure improvements.

March 2 - Chicago Tribune

Tom DiChristopher reports on a pioneering project in New York City that gives the residents of four City Council districts a direct vote on how to allocate municipal funds.

March 2 - City Limits

Yonah Freemark reports on the conundrum faced by the 10-county Atlanta region over how to allocate expected revenues from a new sales tax intended to fund transit projects.

March 2 - the transport politic

Following an ill-fated foreclosure in 2009, a residential project in Libertyville, IL finally finds its way while demonstrating the potential for an emerging field of redevelopment, reports Ann Dillemuth.

March 2 - APA - Sustaining Places Blog

In respective reports on this week's awarding of the TED Prize, Anthony Flint and Diana Lind promote different opinions on the potential impact of this year's winner - The City 2.0.

March 2 - Next American City

John K. McIlwain breaks down the recent explosion in the "65-or-better" population – and what it means for urban regions.

March 2 - Urban Land

An interview with Tim McOsker, one of the three appointees charged by Governor Jerry Brown to wind down the affairs of the Los Angeles CRA, reveals an insider's experience of the complexities of respecting contracts and mandates.

March 2 - The Planning Report

Jason Jordan reports on House and Senate subcommittee hearings this week that focused on water infrastructure concerns and a proposed new program to better address funding and financing options.

March 2 - APA

Stockton, a city of 300,000 in California's ailing Central Valley, may become the largest city in the U.S. to declare bankruptcy. Agreements with public employee unions and major bond creditors may be all that stand in the way of default.

March 1 - The New York Times - U.S.

Lloyd Alter weighs in on the debate over the shrinking, or growing, size of American homes, seeing the influence of affluent homebuyers as driving an increase in size.

March 1 - Treehugger

Jason Kambitsis speaks with Bruce Katz, the founding director of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program, about his advocacy for taking a fundamentally different approach to urban development based on economic diversification.

March 1 - Wired: Autopia

For the final topic in its blog series Lab Notes I, the BMW Guggenheim Lab has enlisted June Williamson to address repurposing buildings and urban infrastructure for more productive uses.

March 1 - LAB|log

A current cause for citizen activism in China is the lack of public restrooms for women, writes Sharon LaFraniere. Recent efforts to stage "Occupy Men's Toilets" campaigns in multiple cities have garnered attention from the press, and authorities.

March 1 - The New York Times

Sarah Lai Stirland reports on the new bill, that was to be voted on by the City Council on Wednesday, which would codify many of the principles articulated by open government advocates in recent years.

March 1 - Tech President

According to Nate Berg, they're not to be found in the country's new megacities. In an article for The Atlantic Cities, Berg discusses a recent paper analyzing the outdated law preventing China's growth and prosperity from trickling down.

March 1 - The Atlantic Cities

Kaid Benfield reports on the Chicago-based Center for Neighborhood Technology's robust, interactive Housing + Transportation Affordability Index, a fantastic resource for location-specific information, including housing and transportation costs.

March 1 - Switchboard