The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

As California faces its third dry year in a row, following the driest year in the state's recorded history, communities are facing the prospect of water rationing. However, some of the state's largest cities have been spared for the time being.

January 17 - Los Angeles Times

Cities can be undersold or oversold in equal measure, but they never fail to present a shortage of data. With its #citydata series, This Big City explores the sometimes surprising facts about cities that emerge from the din of urban life.

January 17 - This Big City

With people young and old embracing urban lifestyles and cities working to create more walkable environments, pedestrian safety is a growing concern across the U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has embraced the issue as a priority.

January 17 - DC.Streetsblog

A mesmerizing presentation of the narrative arc of the United State’s 20 most populated metropolitan areas reveals the evolving weave of interrelationships that make up the country's urban settlements.

January 17 - The Washington Post - The Fix

Following on the well-publicized heals of its posthumous Gold Award honor for Julia Morgan, the American Institute of Architects recently announced its complete roster of 2014 Honor Awards.

January 16 - The American Institute of Architects

A new mayoral administration in Miami Beach has cancelled a $1 billion plan to redevelop 52-acres around the city’s convention center, scrapping the plans of a design-build team that included Pritzker Prize-winning architect Rem Koolhaas.

January 16 - Miami Herald

Depending on who you're asking, Virginia's proposed Bi-County Parkway is either critical to supporting the state's growth or a sprawl-inducing gift to developers. With a key milestone in limbo, Governor Terry McAuliffe will have a chance to weigh in.

January 16 - WAMU

Los Angeles congressional representatives are leveraging the federal appropriations bill to advance legislation requiring the U.S. DOT and the FAA to develop ways to lessen the impact of helicopter noise on residential neighborhoods.

January 16 - San Fernando Valley Business Journal

In an ongoing series, Urbanism Without Effort author Chuck Wolfe argues the importance of the overlaps, overlays and convergence points that define city life, and emphasizes the importance of reading and interpreting their everyday expression.

January 16 - myurbanist

With a whole portfolio of positive indicators about the health of the real estate market in Austin, a group of local industry leaders recently made predictions about what 2014 will bring for one of the country’s fastest growing metros.

January 16 - Austin Business Journal

Portland has a well-earned reputation as a mecca for cyclists. But a new mixed-use development with 657 housing units will set the standard for the U.S. by providing 1,200 bike parking spaces in underground garages.

January 16 - Bike Portland

The recent George Washington Bridge lane closure controversy, clouded by the presidential aspirations of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, is only the most recent failure of management by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

January 16 - Next American City

For urbanists who have reduced their carbon footprints by driving less and living more densely in smaller homes, researchers from UC Berkeley have some bad news. Your reduced emissions are canceled out by those in the suburbs ringing your city.

January 16 - Los Angeles Times - Science Now

BLOG POST

Each January Washington DC hosts a huge gathering of the transportation planning tribe. What do we do? Read about it here.

January 16 - Todd Litman

Yesterday, Mayor de Blasio launched “Vision Zero”, a multi-agency effort to eliminate NYC's traffic deaths within a decade. With eleven deaths (seven of them pedestrians) already recorded in the new year, progress can't come soon enough.

January 16 - Streetsblog

Preparations for the $1.6 billion Blue Line extension project in Charlotte, North Carolina, are nearing completion. Officials have penciled in March to begin construction on the 9.3-mile light rail line.

January 15 - Charlotte Observer

Nearing the 20th anniversary of the last large earthquake to strike the L.A. region, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced a year-long effort to identify ways to protect the city's vulnerable buildings and critical infrastructure from the next rumbler.

January 15 - Los Angeles Times

From Denver to Syracuse, U.S. cities are looking to heal neighborhoods torn apart by the construction of the Interstate Highway System. Could an alternative way of envisioning and financing such a system provide lessons for the developing world?

January 15 - The Atlantic Cities

The publicly held and managed wealth generated by Norway’s taxation of oil and gas extraction now equates to one million Crowns (about $162,000 USD) per capita. Norwegian law only allows the government to draw minimally from this fund every year.

January 15 - Reuters

From Republican congressman from Ill. to President Obama's first Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood now takes on a new role as a co-chair of the bipartisan coalition, Building America's Future, to advocate for increased infrastructure investment.

January 15 - AASHTO Journal