The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Gallup looks at the body mass index of American cities to see which metro areas are the most overweight. Flint, Michigan and Stockton, California come out on top.

March 3 - Gallup

It's an idea being used in Idaho and other areas with heavy energy use at peak times like midday air conditioning: energy companies are paying people to power down during max loads.

March 3 - The New York Times

That's what citizen groups are calling digital billboards, saying they area a safety hazard for distracting drivers. States around the country are grappling with how to regulate the glowing signs.

March 3 - The New York Times

The public library is being re-imagined as an interactive space with multimedia learning labs, coffee shops and government services.

March 3 - Miller-McCune

The leading architect and urban planner from the Philippines is calling on the city of Manila to take stronger precautions in the face of earthquakes and other natural disasters.

March 3 - Philippine Daily Inquirer

BLOG POST

<p> A few weeks back, I had a meeting at the University of Southern California&#39;s campus. It was a moderately nice day by Los Angeles standards, which in other parts of the country would equate to the best day of the year weather-wise. As I walked among the brick buildings, I was impressed by the number of bicycles parked willy-nilly around the grounds. </p> <p> <img src="/files/u20704/cruisers_at_USC.gif" alt="Cruiser bikes on the USC Campus." title="Cruiser bikes on the USC Campus." width="301" height="226" /> </p>

March 2 - Tim Halbur

Builders can't get credit but they may get jobs from banks, who, because of foreclosures, have unfinished homes that they need help completing.

March 2 - Wall Street Journal

NY's Dept. of Transportation has released pictures of a planned separated bus route on 34th St., which would be a first for the city.

March 2 - Streetsblog

BLOG POST

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small">As the housing market collapsed and gasoline prices spiked in 2007, many planners may have read Cornell University law professor Eduardo Penalver’s essay in the </span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small">Washington Post</span></a><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small"> with more than a little satisfaction.

March 2 - Samuel Staley

The desire to create walkable neighborhoods is alive in cities around the U.S., but the recession has made it difficult or impossible to follow through.

March 2 - Washington Examiner

In the late '90s a trio of North Carolina suburbs tried to ditch their suburban past with a new, much lauded Smart Growth planning effort that revised the way they used their land. The success of the celebrated developments didn't last long.

March 2 - Citiwire

<em>Treehugger</em> takes a look at the new bus rapid transit system in Johannesburg, South Africa, and explores some of the controversy and tension that surrounds it.

March 2 - Treehugger

Through digital displays and environmental sensors, new architecture projects are creating a visual way to monitor environmental conditions in specific places.

March 2 - CNN

With population estimates adding an additional 1.2 million people to the San Diego region in the next 40 years, planners say the region will need nearly 400,000 additional housing units to meet the demand.

March 2 - San Diego Union-Tribune

Activists in Seattle have created a community garden on empty land to help provide food for the city's needy.

March 2 - The Seattle Times

Chile's 8.5 earthquake resulted in a significantly lower death toll than the recent quake in Haiti. Partly it was the location of the epicenter, but strict building codes played a part as well.

March 2 - The Infrastructurist

"If we don't do it, you know this whole city is going to go down," said the Mayor. A new study by the mayor's staff shows that roughly one in three parcels are vacant lots or abandoned homes.

March 2 - The Detroit News

Recent transit-oriented developments in Maryland have mixed success. Demographics are on their side, but lack of parking and fierce competition make retail a significant challenge.

March 1 - The Washington Post

Palo Alto is where Silicon Valley started, yet locals eagerly pick up the Daily Post, the Daily News, as well as read PaloAlto-Online. The New York Times investigates why print media flourishes here while regional and national papers struggle.

March 1 - The New York Times - U.S.

In an unprecedented move, L.A. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich has placed a business owner under arrest for posting an illegal "supergraphic" billboard.

March 1 - The Los Angeles Times