The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

A proposal in L.A. to use recently approved funding to push 30 years of transportation projects into the next decade has elicited a protest from the city's Bus Riders Union.

September 1 - Streetsblog L.A.

A new study from The Journal of Preventative Medicine says that drivers in Charlotte, North Carolina who switched to riding the Lynx Light Rail lost an average of 6 1/2 pounds.

August 31 - The National Library of Medicine

Stacy Mitchell reports on the growing trend of micro-financing, where small business people turn to the local community to get the funding they need to open restaurants or small shops.

August 31 - Yes! Magazine

BLOG POST

<span style="widows: 2; text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; border-collapse: separate; font: medium 'Times New Roman'; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; letter-spacing: normal; color: #000000; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px" class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px" class="Apple-style-span"> <p class="MsoNormal"> <span>In recent blogs I have written about places and plans in many different locales and through time. Students often ask, “do I need to visit places to know about them”?

August 31 - Ann Forsyth

The global courier has transformed the way packages are delivered around Paris by deploying large eco-friendly tricycles that go beyond the curb.

August 31 - TheCityFix

Five years after Hurricane Katrina, Amber Angelle reports on some of the steps taken to prepare New Orleanse for the next major hurricane in terms of levees, infrastructure and emergency management.

August 31 - The Christian Science Monitor

<em>This Big City</em> takes a ride on one of London's new bicycle Superhighways, and finds some room for improvement.

August 31 - This Big City

Google has invested $86 million in a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit fund to create 480 affordable rental housing units for low income families.

August 31 - TechCrunch

Legislation working its way through the Honolulu City Council could require construction companies doing work in the Hawaiian city to recycle or reuse as much as 60% of construction materials.

August 31 - Pacific Business News

Work has begun on a long-sought rail line linking downtown Denver to the city's international airport.

August 31 - USA Today

Six finalists have been chosen in a bid to redesign Berlin's decommissioned Tempelhof Airport. The airport is currently open as a park, but the city wants a more formal redesign.

August 31 - Der Spiegel

A toll lane is coming to a Georgia interstate highway -- a first for the state.

August 31 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

BLOG POST

<!--StartFragment--><p style="margin-bottom: 14pt; line-height: 16pt" class="MsoNormal">Planners are taught to be analytical thinkers who use quantitative data, but also qualitative research. Remember the Myers Briggs personality test? It assesses an individual’s personality based on four preferences: A focus on the outer world (extraversion) or inner world (introversion); basic information (sensing) or interpretation and meaning (intuition); making decision based on logic (thinking) or people and special circumstances (feeling); dealing with the outside world with clear decisions (judging) or staying open to new information and options (perceiving).<span>  </span>As planners, we are constantly in conflict with these preferences as we straddle the world of technician and analyst.

August 30 - Melissa Hege

Using five examples, this piece from <em>The New York Times</em> looks at how small problems can lead to huge issues in America's aging infrastructure.

August 30 - The New York Times

A controversial new skyscraper seen as a challenge to the historical skyline dominance of the Empire State Building has been approved in New York City.

August 30 - The Architect's Newspaper

The recent 11-day traffic jam in China was no fluke. As <em>The Economist</em> explains, the crushing congestion is little more than a real-world example of imbalances in supply and demand.

August 30 - The Economist

Enforcing no-car rules on dedicated bus lanes has been proven to increase bus efficiency in a bus rapid transit system in Indonesia.

August 30 - BeritaJakarta

A new study from the New York City Department of Transportation shows that streets with painted bike lanes are 40% less dangerous for pedestrians, among other findings.

August 30 - Tri-State Transportation Campaign

FEATURE

Patrick L. Phillips, CEO of the Urban Land Institute, reflects on the state of rebuilding efforts in New Orleans on the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. He sees an impressive level of planning, momentum and cooperation among stakeholders.

August 30 - Patrick L. Phillips

Some California residents complained that their energy bills spiked after smart meters were installed, while others are concerned about the antennas. Can these fears hinder the growth of smart meters in the state?

August 30 - Grist