The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

In Melbourne, Australia, a frayed power line gave way today at Southern Cross Station. The resulting domino effect took out most of the city's transit system during the heavy morning commute.

July 27 - The Age (Australia)

Sausalito, just across the Bay from SF, has replaced attendants with pay stations in four parking lots. While embedded sensors monitor vehicle activity in the lots, residents are given a tag to hang in their vehicles providing 3 hours free parking.

July 27 - Marin Independent Journal

A proposed development on a vacant lot in ailing Cleveland could connect locals with a little-known asset of their community - a cluster of food wholesalers.

July 27 - The Cleveland Plain Dealer

On July 22, the congressional attempt to pass comprehensive climate change legislation officially ended for the year. That day the World Resources Institute unveiled a report assessing carbon reductions possible under existing federal and state law.

July 27 - The New York Times - Environment - Green (Blog)

The emphasis on high speed rial in the U.S. overlooks the potential harm it could cause to the nation's powerful freight rail system, according to this piece from <em>The Economist</em>.

July 27 - The Economist

Urban Land Institute president Patrick L. Phillips says his hometown of Kansas City needs to mend its car-centric infrastructure and encourage denser growth in the suburbs.

July 27 - The Kansas City Star

It's been nearly three weeks since Los Angeles Planning Director Gail Goldberg resigned. Now, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has nominated a new director: Michael LoGrande.

July 27 - California Planning and Development Report

The planned high speed rail connection between Victorville, California and Las Vegas is expected to create 50,000 temporary jobs. Only 700 will become permanent.

July 27 - The Las Vegas Sun

Most of rural America is getting older. But not all of it.

July 27 - The Daily Yonder

Despite flowing through ten different nations, the Nile's water is only technically the property of Egypt and Sudan. The other eight nations are trying to change that. But as the debate heats up, the river's ecosystem may be caught in the cross-fire.

July 27 - Yale Environment 360

New research on the supposedly irrational patterns of behavior by drivers shows that bad driving decisions are predictable.

July 26 - In Transition

A new bus rapid transit project has begun construction in Amman, Jordan -- a first for the country.

July 26 - Treehugger

Bogotá, Colombia changed public opinion about jaywalking by putting mimes on the street to mock people who crossed illegally. Paul Romer of Stanford looks at other interventions that changed public opinion when laws couldn't.

July 26 - City Journal

FEATURE

The oldest city in the Americas bans cars from its colonial streets and outlines a plan to make San Juan more livable. David Soto gives us a look at this ambitious plan.

July 26 - David Soto

Two age groups are rapidly growing in the U.S.: baby boomers and minors under 18. The difference is that one group is primarily white, while the other is overwhelmingly not.

July 26 - National Journal

A small town in Nebraska is reviving the Homestead Act, offering plots of land to people in order to cash in on property taxes down the line. Other places are following suit.

July 26 - The New York Times

Homebuilders in recession-struck Bakersfield, California, have turned into landlords, renting their units while they wait for the housing market to rebound.

July 26 - The Wall Street Journal

BLOG POST

<p> <span style="word-spacing: 0px; font: medium 'Times New Roman'; text-transform: none; color: #000000; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; letter-spacing: normal; border-collapse: separate; orphans: 2; widows: 2; 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-size: 10px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" class="Apple-style-span">I frequently drive to an uncle’s house near the beach via the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey.  For years, that drive required a very late Friday evening departure and a similarly late Sunday evening return trip to avoid the wicked stop-and-go that always mires t

July 26 - Ian Sacs

A new exhibit in Germany looks at a variety of unrealized and unbuilt plans for Berlin created by 100 different architects and planners.

July 26 - Der Spiegel

The world of business is underestimating the catastrophic consequences of declining oil, says a new report from Lloyd's of London/Chatham House.

July 26 - Guardian UK