The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Quiet cars are spreading to subways and trains across the country. But what about conversation cars, for people who WANT to talk? Alex Marshall says cars for socializing would be great for creating community.

January 17 - The New Daily News

Columnist Jon Hilkevitch writes that a new public-opinion poll on mass-transit issues found that the Chicagoans care deeply about them. Though the candidates haven't taken sides yet, it could be a deciding factor.

January 17 - The Chicago Tribune

The New York Times reports that retailers more used to selling aspirin and greeting cards are now offering more elaborate grocery options.

January 17 - The New York Times

Part of a new proposal to cut billions from the federal budget includes eliminating the historic preservation programs Save America's Treasures and Preserve America.

January 17 - Governing Magazine

DOT Secretary Ray LaHood responds to a Washington Post editorial that condemned not only the California High Speed Rail project, but President Obama's vision for a national high-speed rail network.

January 17 - The Washington Post

A second Pew Center report on transportation and climate change has been released. It places most emphasis on vehicle technology and fuel, less on transit and smart growth. However, urban planners should note that pricing policies are stressed.

January 17 - Pew Center on Global Climate Change

The Council of Edmonton, Alberta is considering allowing liquor advertisements on their buses, which a report estimates could bring in an extra $1 million in revenue.

January 16 - CBC News

Patrick Chovanec, an economics professor in Beijing, explains that the majority of Chinese have more time and less money, so prefer slower, cheaper modes of travel than the new, expensive bullet trains.

January 16 - Business Insider

It was nearly 50 years ago, when streetcars were seen on the roadways of downtown Washington, DC. Dan Tangherlini, the former transportation director for the District discusses why streetcars matter in the United States capital.

January 16 - The City Fix

Charles A. Birnbaum bemoans the lack of quality journalism covering landscape architecture, which often gets overshadowed by architecture criticism and shunted into the Home & Garden section of the paper.

January 16 - The Huffington Post

Randal O'Toole points to a thesis paper that proposes a new approach to traffic flow at major intersections.

January 16 - The Antiplanner

Thomas Schielke, an architectural lighting expert, gives an inclusive overview of building facades that include media from the 1931 addition of color at the top of the Empire State Building to a 2010 building that converts brainwaves to light.

January 15 - arclighting

Tao Rugkhapan reports on the etiology traffic accidents which are becoming all to common in Bangkok as vehicle speeds increase along with lane tolerances and the number of elevated expressways.

January 15 - This Big City

Sound recordist and architect Nick Sowers offers an audio experience of the annual festival Burning Man.

January 15 - Places

Streetcars -- a relatively old transportation technology -- have more traction than high tech solutions like monorails in the modern age of mobility. Want proof? Just look at Disneyland, says Tom Vanderbilt.

January 15 - Slate

The Polis Blog presents a huge list of "urban favorites" -- songs, movies, initiatives and places that explain or highlight the best of the world's urban areas.

January 15 - The Polis Blog

For ninety days, Ben Brown lived out of a 308-square-foot cottage designed by Marianne Cusato. He discovered that you really needed to be connected to your community when living in tight quarters.

January 14 - PlaceShakers

Aleppo, one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, is undergoing a conservation project that includes the restoration of hundreds of houses, a new park, and rebuilding city streets and services.

January 14 - The New York Times

For many immigrants in Los Angeles, bicycling is the only viable way to get around. A group of activists is trying to make that transportation reality safer and more reliable.

January 14 - Good

Photographer Andreas Gefeller has taken a series of photographs of clumps of overhead wires in Japan. The photos highlighting the chaos of the clusters by isolating them in space.

January 14 - andreasgefeller.com