The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

David Schalliol's photographs of abandoned places around the country are intended to be testaments to various social forces that have broken down urban places in recent years. But, he says, they are optimistic as well.

January 15 - Huffington Post

For the famous Danish community of squatters, an offer from the Government to purchase their land proved too good to refuse.

January 15 - The New York Times

In addition to the resignation of Roelof van Ark, CEO of the High-Speed Rail Authority, Chairman Tom Umberg has stepped down, though he will remain on the board. Gov. Brown has indicated he will merge the Authority with Caltrans.

January 15 - San Jose Mercury News

2012 will be much like 2011. Experts see a long, grind-it-out recovery with only a few bright spots, but there are deals to be had.

January 15 - Star Tribune

Metropolis II, on display now at the LA County Museum of Art, features a futuristic model of Los Angeles in which cars and trains zip around super-efficiently (and, reportedly, loudly).

January 14 - Curbed LA

...so more than a third went with "Other" in the last Census. Mireya Navarro reports on the rift between ethnic and racial identity experienced by some Latinos and the challenges the Bureau faces in designing a better questionnaire.

January 14 - The New York Times

A new study concludes that encouraging businesses to prosper and create jobs is the most important function of local government.

January 14 - 24/7 Wall Street

In his new book, The Conundrum, David Owen pierces the magical thinking that has repackaged high-end luxury goods, such as hybrid cars, as virtuous and the idea that we can consume our way out of trouble.

January 14 - Txchnologist.com

The average family paid 25% more in gas in 2011 than they did in 2010. With that trend expected to continue into the foreseeable future, the case for the importance of walkable neighborhoods will grow along with it.

January 14 - PlaceShakers

Actor and global sexy man Ryan Gosling has brought his talents to the world of Architecture, or so it seems.

January 13 - Archinect

Preservationists say Lathrop Homes should be preserved, the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) says it should be "transformed", but what do the residents think?

January 13 - Chicago Tribune

Super-fast, beautifully-designed trains are the all the rage again in China, but safety, pricing, and technology concerns now need to be bumped to country's rail priority list to make it work.

January 13 - The Economist

After the destruction of some of its most significant architectural and cultural treasures, the City of Beverly Hills has finally adopted a historic preservation ordinance.

January 13 - Los Angeles Times

It's been more than 50 years since Boston's old West End was demolished, so why does the neighborhood still have its own newspaper, museum, and weekly gatherings?

January 13 - The Boston Globe

In an opinion piece for the New York Times, Dowell Myers outlines the key demographic changes in immigration patterns and the bold changes in our approach to both legal and illegal immigration policy that they should precipitate.

January 13 - The New York Times

BLOG POST

<p> I&#39;m writing from the audience of a presentation this morning in the Hotel Phillips in Kansas City. The presentation will cover the initial observations and recommendations of a national team of experts who&#39;ve been invited here by Mayor Sly James and his team of Daniel Rose Fellows. </p> <p> The Kansas City Daniel Rose Fellows: </p>

January 13 - Jess Zimbabwe

In an opinion piece for the Los Angeles Times, William Fulton, former mayor of Ventura and the only mayor in California who supported the Governor's proposal to end redevelopment, offers concrete steps for reviving redevelopment in the state.

January 13 - Los Angeles Times

Spiegel Online has published rarely seen photos of Berlin just a few months after the end of World War Two, depicting the massive destruction of the city.

January 13 - Spiegel Online

A key ruling on whether and/or how to allow the High Volume Horizontal Hydraulic Fracturing (or fracking) method of extracting natural gas is imminent in New York State. The decision could set a nationwide precedent.

January 13 - THE DIRT

Writing for the NY Times Sunday Review, Sarah Williams Goldhagen opines on the attraction of architects and urban designers to the design language of trees and other embodied metaphors.

January 13 - The New York Times