The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Very few large cities can claim to know how many parking spaces they have. San Francisco has counted its publicly accessibly parking supply and released the data to through Data SF website.

March 30 - Streetsblog San Francisco

This piece from <em>The St. Louis Post-Dispatch</em> looks at how the city is trying to coerce itself into the new idea- and innovation-based economy.

March 30 - The St. Louis Post-Dispatch

For small towns, the 50,000 population mark is a sought after goal. That amount makes it easier for towns to qualify for certain federal funding, which is why the small town of Salina, Kansas is trying to make sure its residents fill out the Census.

March 30 - NPR

"Tea Party" activists are leading a campaign featuring elaborate conspiracy theories urging Americans to defy the federal government by declining to return their 2010 Census form.

March 30 - Huffington Post

Scholars from the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad discuss how to remake the country's urban areas into sources of economic prosperity.

March 30 - The Wall Street Journal

Development is occurring more rapidly in urban centers than in the suburbs, according to a new study from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

March 30 - The New York Times

In an effort to improve accountability, more government agencies are freeing data about public expenditures.

March 30 - Next American City

BLOG POST

<strong>Even when the circuitry is beyond us mere mortals, DIY comes to the rescue</strong>  <p class="MsoNormal"> In town meetings we use the Internet for a wide variety of uses, from photo walls to display images collected during our <a href="http://vimeo.com/9719936" title="Walkshop Tours">WalkShop tours</a>, to brainstorming and voting with our <a href="http://vimeo.com/9719829" title="AnyWare Suite of Tools">AnyWare suite of tools</a>, to collecting ideas using Google Docs or Google MyMaps at round tables.<span>  </span>The latest WiFi cards are making connecting to the Internet possible in places where the Internet normally is not available.

March 30 - Ken Snyder

After a series of recent "flash mobs" of hundreds of young people spontaneously gathering in downtown Philadelphia, city officials are looking at ways of reducing the incidents and the potentially dangerous conditions they create.

March 30 - The New York Times

Utah Governor Gary Herbert has approved two eminent domain bills that seek to give the state rights to seize property now owned by the federal government. Officials concede the fight will be hard to win.

March 30 - The Salt Lake Tribune

Portland's "Green Streets" program is becoming a new tourist attraction in the city, which officials from other cities are visiting to learn from the Pacific Northwest's model water treatment infrastructure.

March 30 - USA Today

South Korean government officials are increasingly focusing on green projects to improve their cities' sustainability -- and create legacies for politicians.

March 29 - The New York Times

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley says recently approved legislation that allows city school teachers to live outside Chicago borders will help to decimate the city's middle class.

March 29 - Chicago Sun-Times

Federal officials are looking at an unlikely city as a model for urban public transit: Los Angeles.

March 29 - Los Angeles Times

BLOG POST

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"> <a href="http://www.planning.org/"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small">Planning</span></a><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small"> magazine recently (December 2009) published a story on the benefits of economic impact studies for planners. Most professional planners have run across them at one point or another: they are used to evaluate economic impact and the effectives of various types of programs on job creation. Unfortunately, the article did little to also illuminate the pitfalls and weaknesses of these studies.</span> </p>

March 29 - Samuel Staley

The City of Pittsburgh recently approved a new ordinance requiring bike parking in new developments. Cyclists say the move is a ceremonial acceptance of bicycles as a form of transportation in the city.

March 29 - Next American City

The Tel Aviv Municipality has approved a plan to create affordable housing units in the city, making it the first Israeli city to do so.

March 29 - Sustainable City blog

With increasing urbanization spreading throughout global cities, Justin McGuirk argues that city design is the biggest challenge acing designers.

March 29 - Guardian

The EPA reports that residential construction in cities has outpaced the building of suburban homes, and that the reason is not planners dictating smart growth but the personal preference of homebuyers and renters.

March 29 - Grist

FEATURE

Planners in Cary, North Carolina were tasked by the mayor to make their complex planning process more accessible.

March 29 - Tim Halbur