The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Officials in London have announced a plan to link the city's 2012 Olympics venues through a system of cable cars.

July 6 - Guardian

Once a major part of cities transportation networks, streetcars have over the last half a century devolved into mere tourist attractions and novelties. But the pendulum may be swinging back.

July 6 - Governing

Designing the city of the future has long been the playground of architects and planners. A New York non-profit design group led by architect Mitchell Joachim keeps that tradition alive.

July 6 - Guardian

With the global urban population on the rise and cities expected to become densely populated mega-cities, automakers are trying to design cars for future cities.

July 5 - The New York Times

Small town movie theaters are seeing new interest from community members who are fighting -- and volunteering -- to keep them open.

July 5 - The New York Times

Cities are falling over themselves to try to convince basketball superstar Lebron James that he should pick their NBA franchise as his new team.

July 5 - Next American City

The UC Berkeley Institute of Transportation Studies has issued a report questioning ridership projections on the $43+ billion, 800 mile, voter-approved California High Speed Rail project. Cambridge Systematics defends their numbers.

July 5 - San Francisco Chronicle

Two little girls were attacked by coyotes in Rye, New York in the last 8 days, causing concern, bafflement and a full-scale panic in the suburban town.

July 5 - The New York Times

FEATURE

Officials in Santa Fe have announced plans to demolish an amphitheater designed by architect Paolo Soleri, the visionary behind the as-yet-unfinished Arcosanti project. David Licata says it deserves to be saved.

July 5 - David Licata

BLOG POST

<p> <span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small"><span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small">Planners are quick to criticize roads and highway investments for the vast sums spent to build, operate and maintain them, often questioning the value of these subsidies. Recently, on a planning list-serve, these subsidies were labeled an “external cost” of automobiles, but they are not.

July 4 - Samuel Staley

Joel Kotkin reports that the from Dallas to Des Moines and Bismark, the urban areas of the Great Plains states has seen steady growth thanks to energy, agriculture and high-tech jobs.

July 4 - New Geography

British officials are looking to help their efforts to curb carbon emissions by capping growth on airport runways that they say encourage "binge flying".

July 4 - The New York Times

Architects Anu Mathur and Dilip da Cunha say that activism drives their work: "Rather than waiting for a commissioned project, we ask the first question, frame the issue and propose possibilities," say the two in an interview with PLACES.

July 4 - Places

Arlington, TX Mayor Robert Chuck is also a physician, acutely aware of the effects of ozone air pollution in his city. In this Q & A with Grist's Jonathan Hiskes, he describes ozone's causes and effects and his role as mayor.

July 4 - Daily Grist

Around 100 people turned out in Beverly Hills to protest a planned subway connecting the famous 90210 to downtown. While most people said they liked the idea of the subway, protesters worried about the safety of burrowing tunnels under their homes.

July 4 - LAist

The City of Baltimore has appointed a new "food czar" to look at food health and access issues in the city. In the broader senses, though, officials in the city look at this new position as a part of their sustainability planning.

July 3 - Good

A Portland study shows that bicyclists feel 50% safer when biking in a solid blue bike lane rather than just the classic dotted line. Could color make that much of a difference?

July 3 - Treehugger

BLOG POST

<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span>Earlier blogs have explored books and journals for finding out about the basics of planning <a href="/node/43730" target="_blank">history</a>. In this blog I add to this by listing a just </span>few of the places it is important to recognize as a planner. It is of course difficult to make such lists but students ask for them with some frequency. Of course, places are one thing and planning processes quite another--and in planning process is very important. Upcoming blogs will deal with plans and processes.</span></span>  </p>

July 3 - Ann Forsyth

New figures from the National Association of Realtors show that the number of new homes being built and the number of homes being sold were both down during May.

July 3 - The New York Times

A white box labeled "Unlimited Urban Woods" stands in the plaza of a modern office building in Amsterdam. Step inside, and an endless vista of trees stretches out before you.

July 3 - WebEcoist