The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Economic crises tend to manifest themselves in specific design trends, especially in the field of architecture. This latest recession has spurred the age of Do-It-Yourself architecture and urbanism.

February 1 - Places

Entertainment Giant AEG appears to have partnered with Farmers Insurance for naming rights to the proposed stadium in Downtown L.A.

February 1 - Bloomberg

Two Virginia-based burger chains are interested in opening locations in Downtown Portland, but are facing opposition from city residents and officials.

February 1 - The Portland Press Herald

Conservative political and media rhetoric aimed at "fat cat" public employees scapegoats middle-class workers for the economic crisis and threatens to undermine public welfare at all levels, write Max Fraad Wolff and Richard D. Wolff.

February 1 - Truthout

Artists tend to flock to big cities where their art can be bought and appreciated, but economic hard times are sending artists fleeing towards cheaper rents on homes and studio space.

February 1 - Utne Reader

What makes effective transit-oriented development? Transportation planner Alan Huynh makes a good argument for the proximity to a cup of coffee as a defining characteristic of quality TOD.

February 1 - The Alan Note

If a San Mateo County agency has its way, congestion pricing will be applied to two toll bridges to create additional revenue and reduce congestion as was done successfully on the S.F./Oakland Bay Bridge last July - but there are major differences.

February 1 - San Mateo County Times via Mercury News

That's what Richard Reep proposes in this article looking at reuse options for vacant retail properties from strip malls to megamalls.

February 1 - New Geography

William D. Eggers says the government is giving up the costly infrastructure investments in favor of cloud computing, and the Feds are leading the way.

February 1 - Governing Magazine

A national survey of independent businesses found that those in communities with an active "buy local" campaign experienced significantly stronger revenue growth in 2010 compared to those located in areas without one.

February 1 - New Rules Project

Sarah Goodyear notes that while the internet shutdown in Egypt is getting all the attention, the real activism is happening on the streets of Cairo. City streets are the true gathering places for revolution.

January 31 - Grist

The Oprah Show says San Luis Obispo, California is America's Happiest City, citing urban planning decisions like making the town pedestrian-friendly with wide sidewalks and limiting fast food drive-throughs.

January 31 - Oprah.com

Sharrows are a great way to give cyclists access to the full traffic lane without designating a bike lane, but as this case in San Francisco illustrates, not all applications are good ones. The presence of a bus-only lane created the problem.

January 31 - The Bay Citizen

San Jacinto Plaza is the historic heart of El Paso, Texas. City officials are planning a major redevelopment of the plaza, perhaps even expanding its traditional borders and using New York's Bryant Park rebirth as a model.

January 31 - The El Paso Times

Developer FivePoint Communities has cleared hurdles, and the financing flowing again for two major California projects, one on San Francisco's Treasure Island and one at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station near Irvine.

January 31 - Builder Magazine

FEATURE

The Tea Party has it all wrong, writes Joel Mills. Urban planning is not a radical, elitist agenda, but the best example of local democracy available today.

January 31 - Joel Mills

Reporter Leon Neyfakh digs deep into the architectural battle between New Urbanism and Landscape Urbanism, saying it is a war for the future of our built environment.

January 31 - Boston Globe

A real estate report found that there are only four cities in the U.S. where it makes more sense for residents to rent rather than buy. The foreclosure crisis has made it more practical to buy rather than rent in 72% of America's 50 largest cities.

January 31 - San Francisco Examiner

The amount of people commuting in car pools has nearly halved since 1980.

January 31 - The New York Times

In this Q&A, urban planning professor Mitchell Moss explains how budget crises at the federal, state and local levels will affect transit funding in New York City and other places.

January 31 - The Shoshin Project