The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Chicago Bets on Buses

Yonah Freemark reports on Chicago's commitment of $7.3 million, supplementing $24.6 million in federal funds already in place, to improve bus service between Union Station and Navy Pier.

February 23 - the transport politic

CA Legislator Takes Aim at Food Trucks

A well-intentioned new bill that could nudge food trucks out of huge swaths of territory now faces backlash, explains Jonathan Kauffman.

February 23 - SF Weekly

Latest Salvo in Toronto Transit Turmoil

The battle being waged by Toronto's first-term mayor Rob Ford over the future of transit in the city is getting uglier by the day, as the Toronto Transit Commission voted Tuesday to fire chief general manager Gary Webster.

February 23 - Toronto Star

In Appreciation of Nashville's Innovative New Downtown Code

Charlie Gardner writes about what can be found in, and more importantly what is excluded from, one of the most progressive code revisions to be adopted by a major American city.

February 23 - Old Urbanist

Robotic Convenience Store Debuts in the U.S.

Popular in such countries as the Netherlands and Japan for some time, the first full service vending machine to be located in an apartment community in the United States has arrived in Fort Worth, Texas, reports Tim Blackwell.

February 23 - Property Management Insider


NYC to Pilot New System for Monitoring Sewage Discharge

New York City is taking steps to manage the dumping of raw sewage, Mireya Navarro reports.

February 23 - New York Times - Green Blog

Development of Driverless Cars Enters the Fast Lane in Nevada

As Nevada becomes the first state in the country to approve self-driving cars, Robert Bruegmann considers what changes to the built environment driverless cars could have.

February 22 - Bloomberg


Pop-up Street Libraries Appear in New York

John Metcalfe reports on efforts by one New York architect to utilize the city's ubiquitous pay telephone booths as the settings for pop-up libraries.

February 22 - The Atlantic Cities

Rebuilding the Long Forgotten Treasures of L.A.'s Golden Era

A $1.1 billion renovation of the Disney California Adventure theme park in Anaheim is oriented around the recreation of Los Angeles landmarks of the 1920s and 30s, when the head mouseketeer himself began building his empire.

February 22 - KCET.org

How Post Office Closings Will Be Harmful to Rural Health

Cezary Podkul and Emily Stephenson examine the likely economic and social consequences of efforts by the U.S. Postal Service to close thousands of rural post offices this year.

February 22 - The Washington Post

BLOG POST

Information Sources in Planning: "Smart Growth Online" vs. “Freedom Advocates”

<p class="MsoNormal"> <em>Where there are no facts, sentiment rules.</em> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> - Oswald Spengler, <em>The Decline of the West</em> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp; </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> In my previous two posts I have set the stage for our consideration of information sources in planning by arguing for the relevance of such an effort when it comes to<a href="/node/53999"> (increasingly controversial) urban planning issues</a>, and to situate such in terms of recognizing the<a href="/node/54355"> influence of our world views</a> on the production and use of informational and built environments.  </p>

February 22 - Michael Dudley

Reconciling Redevelopment With a Salacious Past

In Kansas City, the historic home of jazz and Prohibition-era excess struggles with a redevelopment effort that attempts to build on that era's history while leaving behind some of its essential characteristics, writes Brandon R. Reynolds.

February 22 - The Atlantic Cities

Guidelines on Privately Owned Public Spaces in S.F. Need Rethinking

John King authors an article examining the types of privately owned public spaces that have been created in San Francisco under the city's 1985 downtown plan and sees room for improvement.

February 22 - San Francisco Chronicle

Mexico City Trash Pickers Fight for Their Livelihood

As city officials introduce plans to overhaul waste disposal in the capital of Mexico, a deeply rooted constituency fights back.

February 22 - New York Times

Conference Points to Place, Not Race, As Health Determinant

Lecturers call race a "surrogate" for socioeconomic factors that determine health outcomes, reports Beth Fitzgerald.

February 22 - NJ Spotlight

No Car? No Problem in Washington, D.C.

Drawing on 2010 Census data, the Coalition for Smarter Growth highlights the prevalence of alternative transportation in the nation's capital.

February 22 - Greater Greater Washington

Lessons Learned in Providing On-Site Open Space for Multifamily Developments

Bob Bengford, AICP, MAKERS, examines the goals and benefits, notable challenges, and lessons learned in providing on-site open space for multifamily developments, including a comparison of how a few Washington cities regulate this type of open space.

February 22 - MRSC Planning Advisor

FEATURE

Is There Such a Thing as ‘Rural’ Gentrification?

February 21 - Thomas Sigler

Building Permaculture in Seattle

Robert Mellinger reports on efforts to build the nation's largest public food forest in the Beacon Hill neighborhood in Seattle.

February 21 - Crosscut

Re-imagining Versus Repairing the Nation's Infrastructure

In an opinion piece for <em>Politico</em>, three Washington insiders propose several principles along which the United States should re-imagine its infrastructure in order to provide the means for future prosperity.

February 21 - Politico

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