The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Robert Steuteville takes issue with a recent report on NPR's <em>Marketplace</em> by noted Economist Steven Levitt that concluded that driving while drunk is safer than walking while drunk.

January 16 - Better! Cities & Towns

Joerg Haentzschel interviews the young architect Bjarke Ingels. Through offices now established in Copenhagen and New York, Ingels is slowly pushing his 'pragmatic utopian architecture' into the mainstream.

January 16 - 032C

Writing in the online edition of the January issue of Planning, Bobbie Peyton explores what can be learned from the pioneering Foodshed Planning efforts of San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego.

January 16 - Planning

An update on efforts by the City of Los Angeles to develop a new ordinance to allow artists to legally paint on the walls of private property.

January 16 - KCET Departures

A new study produced by an international team of scientists focuses on efforts to reduce the production of two shorter-term pollutants, rather than carbon dioxide, that drive climate change.

January 16 - The Washington Post

Investment in improving public spaces seen as key to keeping and attracting businesses and residents in Baltimore.

January 16 - The Baltimore Sun

Catering to potential office tenants who would want more modern spaces, New York City officials are toying with rezoning a swath of midtown Manhattan, allowing for even more density and the replacement of aging office buildings.

January 15 - The Wall Street Journal

David Schalliol's photographs of abandoned places around the country are intended to be testaments to various social forces that have broken down urban places in recent years. But, he says, they are optimistic as well.

January 15 - Huffington Post

For the famous Danish community of squatters, an offer from the Government to purchase their land proved too good to refuse.

January 15 - The New York Times

In addition to the resignation of Roelof van Ark, CEO of the High-Speed Rail Authority, Chairman Tom Umberg has stepped down, though he will remain on the board. Gov. Brown has indicated he will merge the Authority with Caltrans.

January 15 - San Jose Mercury News

2012 will be much like 2011. Experts see a long, grind-it-out recovery with only a few bright spots, but there are deals to be had.

January 15 - Star Tribune

Metropolis II, on display now at the LA County Museum of Art, features a futuristic model of Los Angeles in which cars and trains zip around super-efficiently (and, reportedly, loudly).

January 14 - Curbed LA

...so more than a third went with "Other" in the last Census. Mireya Navarro reports on the rift between ethnic and racial identity experienced by some Latinos and the challenges the Bureau faces in designing a better questionnaire.

January 14 - The New York Times

A new study concludes that encouraging businesses to prosper and create jobs is the most important function of local government.

January 14 - 24/7 Wall Street

In his new book, The Conundrum, David Owen pierces the magical thinking that has repackaged high-end luxury goods, such as hybrid cars, as virtuous and the idea that we can consume our way out of trouble.

January 14 - Txchnologist.com

The average family paid 25% more in gas in 2011 than they did in 2010. With that trend expected to continue into the foreseeable future, the case for the importance of walkable neighborhoods will grow along with it.

January 14 - PlaceShakers

Actor and global sexy man Ryan Gosling has brought his talents to the world of Architecture, or so it seems.

January 13 - Archinect

Preservationists say Lathrop Homes should be preserved, the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) says it should be "transformed", but what do the residents think?

January 13 - Chicago Tribune

Super-fast, beautifully-designed trains are the all the rage again in China, but safety, pricing, and technology concerns now need to be bumped to country's rail priority list to make it work.

January 13 - The Economist

After the destruction of some of its most significant architectural and cultural treasures, the City of Beverly Hills has finally adopted a historic preservation ordinance.

January 13 - Los Angeles Times