The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

In the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil catastrophe, Geography professor Jason Henderson calls out "green" liberals who insist on driving.

May 6 - AlterNet

This post from <em>Places</em> looks at how former New York City Mayor John V. Lindsay's embrace of the film industry helped transform the city.

May 6 - Places

FEATURE

Break out the Bunsen burner: Ric Stephens has broken down the science of city planning into this handy chart of elements.

May 6 - Ric Stephens

BLOG POST

<p class="ecxMsoNormal"> How can one measure the housing affordability of a city or region?<span>  </span>One common option is to focus on a region’s median home price (or the median home price divided by median income).<span>  </span>I’ve used this method myself, and regional medians will often be the best tool available. </p> <p class="ecxMsoNormal"> But sometimes, this method leads to absurd results.<span>  </span>For example, the median home price for metropolitan Atlanta is $150,000, which makes Atlanta seem like a remarkably affordable housing market.(1) </p>

May 5 - Michael Lewyn

While developers in the U.K. have fallen prey to the recession, Tesco supermarkets have been extremely successful. Now the company is planning several new developments of their own with homes and shops centered around the grocery store.

May 5 - The Guardian U.K.

Kathryn Gustafson of the firm Gustafson Guthrie Nichol says that urban parks are an antidote to sprawl because they give city dwellers the room to breathe that often drives them to the suburbs.

May 5 - ASLA's The Dirt blog

Jane Jacobs is probably the most well-regarded writer on urban issues in American history. But, as economist Edward L. Glaeser argues, her stance on urban density is a little bit off-target.

May 5 - The New York Times

The city of Dublin, Ohio, is trying to un-eminent domain some land it acquired from a local landowner. The project it had seized the land for has since fallen apart, and the city now wants its $5 million payoff back.

May 5 - The Columbus Dispatch

There are nearly 300 form-based codes either enacted or in development across North America. <em>New Urban News</em> takes a look at the rising trend.

May 5 - New Urban News

BLOG POST

<p class="MsoNormal"> <span><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--></span> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <span>What began on April 20^th as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon_drilling_rig_explosion">tragic industrial accident that claimed 11 lives</a> is turning into an unprecedented ecological disaster. </span> </p>

May 5 - Michael Dudley

This article looks at the growing popularity of streetcars in American cities, and highlights 22 cities that are planning to have new streetcar lines within the next two years.

May 5 - Scientific American

Buffalo's Kensington Expressway cut the Humbolt Parkway neighborhood and its Frederick Law Olmsted-designed corridor in half in 1958. Activists are pushing the state to consider tearing it down and replacing it with a pedestrian-friendly boulevard.

May 5 - Buffalo News

The U.S. is expected to grow by more than 100 million people over the next 40 years, and much of that growth will occur in urban areas. Joel Kotkin says that this growth will highlight the inefficiencies of centralized power.

May 5 - Governing

The Census is going to be wrong, according to this column from <em>The Washington Post</em>. Statistical adjustments help get undercounts closer to reality, but many opponents prevent their use.

May 5 - The Washington Post

Citizens in Tysons Corner worry that plans to densify the city don't offer enough incentives to developers to come to town.

May 5 - Great Falls Connection

BLOG POST

<p> PlaceMatters has partnered with the <a href="http://www.charretteinstitute.org" title="National Charrette Institute">National Charrette Institute</a> on a number of occasions, providing trainings and giving panel presentations at conferences. One of our common themes is &quot;High Touch, High Tech Charrettes.&quot; During the sessions we talk about the advantages of low tech and when it makes sense to bring in high tech. Below I have embedded a video that is a montage of clips filmed during a downtown revitalization Charrette in Wichita Kansas. In this project, PlaceMatters partnered with Goody Clancy to help residents go through a series of exercises including keypad polling and mapping exercises to brainstorm about the future of downtown Wichita. </p>

May 4 - Ken Snyder

Adolfo Carrion, director of the White House Office of Urban Affairs, has announced plans to leave his position, trading it for a post in the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

May 4 - The New York Observer

Pittsburgh and other college towns top Forbes Magazine's annual Most Livable Cities list of 2010.

May 4 - Forbes.com

'Waste heat' is a hot area of research as an alternative energy source. Providers say they can turn excess heat produced by machines in factories into clean electricity.

May 4 - greentechmedia

<em>Toronto Star</em> architecture critic Christopher Hume writes that a recent controversy in the city over a proposed waterfront sports complex highlights why Toronto will never be a great city.

May 4 - The Toronto Star