The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Outdated or ugly building blighting your skyline? Maybe what it needs is a "facade graft".

February 13 - Gizmag

As homelessness rises in cities and suburbs across the country, local municipalities are trying to get the newly homeless back into homes as quickly as they can.

February 13 - Governing

We may not be driving flying cars, but the futuristic city is here -- in the form of a more intimate connections, communication technologies and social interactions. Former Planetizen Managing Editor Christian Madera discusses.

February 13 - Next American City

Due to its pounding beat and often sexual themes, funk music has been banned from Carnival by the mayor of a small Brazilian town.

February 12 - Reuters

As the Winter Olympics kick off in Vancouver, the city has been named the world's "most livable city".

February 12 - Reuters

The Portland City Council unanimously approved a $613 million, 20 year plan to improve the city's bike infrastructure.

February 12 - Portland Business Journal

Keeping government open and accountable has led to some problems for cities, according to John D. Donahue.

February 12 - Governing

California is looking to fast-track a pilot project that would exempt some construction projects from environment-related legal challenges. It's a move aimed at speeding development and creating jobs, but critics say it will harm the environment.

February 12 - The Desert Sun

This post from <em>The City Fix</em> looks at the investment Mumbai is making in developing a citywide mass transit system.

February 12 - The City Fix

A new demographic tool from the USDA compiles data about food choices and characteristics, allowing the creation of detailed maps. <em>Edible Geography</em> wonders what using food as a metric will tell us about the U.S.

February 12 - Edible Geography

<em>Grist</em> takes a look at the Olympic city of Vancouver, and lists some of its greenest attributes, and some of its less-than-green downfalls.

February 12 - Grist

BLOG POST

<p>I recently posted an open-ended question on facebook to my <em>friends</em> about Governor Palin, asking for their views. It was remarkable how condescending many of those views turned out to be, just as Gerard Alexander noted in his excellent February 4 Washington Post editorial. </p><p>Herewith are my thoughts on the tea party thing - whatever it is - and how it relates to the challenges faced by the New Urbanists and advocates for Smart Growth....</p>

February 12 - Charles Buki

An op-ed by Los Angeles County Supervisor criticizes the Grade Crossing Policy employed by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority in the recent approval of a light rail extension.

February 12 - The Planning Report

One of London's major soccer teams is floating plans to rebuild its stadium. But with its location in one of the city's most impoverished sections, many say the new plan doesn't do enough for its neighborhood.

February 12 - London Evening Standard

The developers that purchased L.A.'s Century Plaza Hotel, a swooping mid-century building, planned to raze it and start over. Preservationists fought back, and a new plan has been announced to preserve a significant section of it.

February 11 - Los Angeles Times

Pedestrianized area's in Manhattan's Herald Square and Times Square will remain permanently closed to auto traffic.

February 11 - Crain's New York Business

After 30 years of government studies of a regional transportation system, an influential private-sector group is set to unveil its own plan that includes commuter rail and even toll lanes added to local interstate highways.

February 11 - Indianapolis Business Journal

Houston Mayor Annise Parker is considering a big shake-up of the city's public transportation, including the option of transitioning to a fare-free system.

February 11 - The Houston Chronicle

With water in increasing demand and unsustainable land use patterns threatening supplies, a new report claims that nearly 40% of the earth's surface is arid and in danger of desertification.

February 11 - Science Daily

This post from IBM's <em>A Smarter Planet</em> blog looks at how advanced monitoring techniques and analytics are helping to improve the management of sewage and wastewater in cities like Sacramento and Dubuque.

February 11 - A Smarter Planet