The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Plans to scrape hundreds of thousands of acres of the Mojave Desert for solar panel installations may endanger wildlife and are pitting environmentalists against each other.

January 23 - Salon.com

As the Federal government prepares to pour massive amounts of funding into road infrastructure, James Russell sends up a warning that the 'shovel-ready' projects may just be more bridges to nowhere.

January 23 - Bloomberg.com

FEATURE

John Norquist, President and CEO of the Congress for the New Urbanism, believes that President Obama should reconsider committing stimulus funds to decades-old freeway expansion projects and take transportation policy in a new direction.

January 22 - John Norquist

BLOG POST

<p> It is a chestnut of urban planning that a neighborhood must have a certain number of dwelling units per acre (usually around 8 or 10) in order to have adequate bus service. But the quarter-acre lot seems to get no respect: too dense for estate-home luxury, not dense enough to constitute &quot;smart growth&quot;. But a 9 year-old girl recently taught me that, at least for children of a certain age, these medium-density neighborhoods have their advantages. </p>

January 22 - Michael Lewyn

Secretary of Transportation appointee Ray LaHood spoke to the Senate today about Amtrak, toll roads, and sustainability.

January 22 - Grist

In Oregon, transportation officials are set to vote on an ambitious list of transportation projects that they hope will garner funding when Congress allocates transportation money this year.

January 22 - The Oregonian

Hopes are fading from transit enthusiasts who wanted to see high speed rail and public transit profit from Obama's stimulus package. Even the road lobby is disappointed that infrastructure will get less than tax cuts and state bail-outs.

January 22 - The New York Times

This editorial suggests three strategies to make the American auto fleet more efficient: renewing the hybrid tax credit program (many credits have been exhausted), pursuing a "cash for clunkers program", and increasing the gas tax to supplement CAFE.

January 22 - The New York Times

The line between suburb and city blurs as suburbs struggle with the problems of the cities' past. But there's hope, say this article's authors, who make a case for regionalism and government's active role in reinventing such struggling places.

January 22 - Newsweek

The author of this article offers a few ideas on how to better use our 46,000 miles of highway. From the integration of rail lines to the development of electricity distribution grids, the interstate has more potential than it seems.

January 22 - Metropolis Magazine

Plans for a new school and mixed use development in Brooklyn have neighbors excited about the project filling a need but also disappointed about the new project's height, which they say will ruin their view.

January 22 - The New York Times

Municipalities are increasingly ready to meet the rising demands by residents who want to raise their own chickens for food.

January 22 - NPR

This editorial argues that the San Francisco isn't ready for a complex scheme that the public dislikes, raises little funding, and would send an 'unwelcome' message to visitors.

January 22 - San Francisco Chronicle

FEATURE

January 22 - Nate Berg

On Tuesday, over a million Americans made it to Washington, D.C. to attend President Obama's inauguration. Christopher Hawthorne relates the nation's refreshed optimism to an impending revival of urbanism and public space.

January 22 - Los Angeles Times

Coriandoline, a housing development in Correggio, Italy, is the first to have been designed primarily by children. The award-winning neighborhood boasts themed houses and "built-in playability."

January 21 - Radio Netherlands Worldwide

It's one of those good news-bad news revelations: the housing and job crises are causing more people to stay put. NY's out-migration was the lowest since the Census tracked outflows in 1982. More residents left Florida than arrived, a first.

January 21 - The New York Times

PBS' NOW goes to California to look at new state requirements for renewable energy, and the battle over where the new infrastructure will go.

January 21 - NOW

Highlights of the Coney Island revival plan include new housing, shops, and recreational facilities--which some say have no place in the historic amusement district.

January 21 - New York Daily News

California's high-speed rail project is a triumph for rail advocates, but made possible by private sector funding. A Canadian rail project must also follow the model of public-private partnerships.

January 21 - The Globe and Mail