The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Mini-Homes for Homeless
A Fresno, CA architect has designed and built a number of tiny buildings made out of recycled materials as homes for the homeless, but has yet to find a site that will take them.
Time for an International Conservation Market?
A recent proposal by Britain's Conservative Party to create a system of conservation credits to protect biodiversity should be expanded to a global scale, according to this piece from <em>The Guardian</em>.
Pedophile Island
A gubernatorial candidate in California wants to take one of the Channel Islands (a national park) and make it a place to dump pedophiles, with their own separate society.
Recession Caused VMT To Drop But Back On the Rise
Kenneth Small of UC Irvine shows that higher prices do reduce driving, as do recessions when workers lose their jobs, which is one of the main factors in the recent drop in VMT.
Historic Homes May Be Too Damaged to Save in Brooklyn's Navy Yard
A historic Navy yard in Brooklyn has been crumbling for decades. Now a deal has been struck to redevelop part of the area. But even with preservation efforts, many of the area's historic homes may be too damaged to save.
Privatized Transit: Who Profits?
Yonah Freemark argues that encouraging developers to build their own transit (as Christopher Leinberger recently argued) could be highly problematic.
Abu Dhabi Uneasy About its Role in New Movie
The new "Sex and the City" movie was set -- but not shot -- in Abu Dhabi. Now officials there are trying to decide whether or not to release the film to local audiences, as the city tries to control its brand and image.
L.A. Has More Bike and Ped Share Than Portland
Ryan Bradley takes a walk across Los Angeles to reflect on the city's transportation history.
A New Neighborhood for Chicago
The site of an ex-steel factory, the 369-acre South Works site is being rebuilt as an urban nieghborhood.
Small Efforts in Fight Against Cincinnati Food Deserts
A major grocer in Ohio is trying to keep some of its smaller stores open in areas that would otherwise be food deserts. But profits are hard to come by, and stores continue to move out of town.
Eye in the Sky Maps Ancient Maya
Advanced laser imaging technology known as lidar has proven to be an effective and fast way to map ancient Mayan villages.
Best Cities to Get Laid... Off
These 10 American cities top the nation as being home to the most layoffs. California is a hotbed.
City Going Broke Maintaining Public Spaces
The City of Walnut, California says it is shelling out $300,000 a year to light streets and maintain public parks and plazas. The property tax assessment that is supposed to pay for maintainance hasn't been increased since the 1990s.
Building Boom In Land Of Foreclosures
It seems inconceivable - building new homes next to new, vacant homes, but with depressed prices for land and labor a new market for home-buyers who missed out on foreclosure sales has developed in states hit worst by the housing crisis.
Creative Reuse Nets Local Food
What can you do with an old crane factory? Turn it into a fish farm, and a hydroponic produce operation.
LaHood Rides MagLev
The line may only be 12 miles, but the train speeds at 312 mph. The Secretary of Transportation was in Japan as part of the effort to bring high speed rail to the U.S. though it's not clear whether he is in fact considering the maglev technology.
Working From Home: An Urban Planning Revolution
A piece in The Atlantic argues that telecommuting trends could have significant impacts on the built environment.
FEATURE
Turning Downtown into Suburbia – The Case of Hartford, Connecticut
When we think of sprawl, we usually picture suburban life. But inner cities also took on the character of sprawl when freeways came in and were buildings torn down, say Christopher T. McCahill and Norman Garrick.
Senate Climate Bill Called A Gas Tax
The American Power Act climate legislation</a> by Senators Kerry and Lieberman, unveiled May 12, does have fees that oil refineries must pay, but is it a stretch to call the bill a disguised gas tax? Edmunds.com analyses American Solutions charge.
Evolving Beyond the Long Commute
Car commutes used to be long by necessity. But that's no longer the case, according to Richard Florida in this video from <em>The Atlantic</em>.
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
