The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

San Francisco, Portland, and San Diego lead the charge to ensure everything from power grids to building codes are prepared for arrival of electric cars.

February 16 - New York Times

Pleasantville, NY may be affluent and amenity-rich, but it isn't immune to the economic downturn. Now some suggest the town should sacrifice character for economic opportunity.

February 16 - New York Times

With the threat of its sale bringing the prospect of hilltop housing development behind the city's most well-known icon, the hills near the Hollywood sign in L.A. have spurred local activists to drape a new anti-development message over the sign.

February 15 - The New York Times

Vancouver lost its Triple A credit rating after being forced to bail out its Olympic Athletes Village when the hedge fund that had backed it went under -- just one of the unpredicted events that made this a Recession Olympics.

February 15 - Financial Times

BLOG POST

<p> As managing editor of Planetizen, I&#39;d like to make a quick note on today&#39;s op-ed, <a href="/node/42927">Resisting Dickensian Gloom</a> by Tony Recsei. Mr Recsei asked for a chance to respond to <a href="/node/42679">a recent criticism of his work</a> by Planetizen regular Michael Dudley. It is our policy at Planetizen to allow points of view that are critical of the status quo in urban planning, so I agreed to run the piece. I did ask Mr. Recsei to tone down some of the more personal attacks on smart growthers so that his points could be presented more clearly to our audience, and I believe he has done that. </p>

February 15 - Tim Halbur

The projects receiving funding through the federal government's roughly $8 billion high speed rail investment travel through more than 40% of congressional districts. Analysts predict this will encourage more legislators to push for related funds.

February 15 - The New York Times

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing is reportedly open to the idea of downsizing the city, and is looking for other fresh ideas to help the city's economy return to a sustainable place.

February 15 - The Detroit News

Amid the economic recession, Habitat for Humanity is transitioning from the construction of single-family homes to more affordable condominiums.

February 15 - The Washington Post

FEATURE

High-density development in Australia is causing more greenhouse gases than the suburbs, argues Dr. Tony Recsei of the group Save Our Suburbs, in this rebuttal of a blog post by Michael Dudley.

February 15 - Tony Recsei

This paper animation clip by Rob Carter shows the urban growth and development of Charlotte, North Carolina over time.

February 14 - Good

Mike Lydon discusses the importance of creating "bikeway networks" -- systems of bike lanes and infrastructures that have varied forms for varied situations.

February 14 - Reconnecting America

The town of Holyoke, Massachusetts has hired Cisco to create a technology-led urban revitalization plan.

February 14 - Fast Company

Writing for <em>The New York Times</em>, Timothy Egan takes a look at some of the empty cities that were abandoned after the housing crash, and why they will be the slums of tomorrow.

February 14 - NYTimes: Opinionator Blog

A large-scale program of high speed rail projects is creating a huge economic impact in China. The fast timeline for these rail projects and the jobs they are creating have American officials looking on jealously.

February 14 - The New York Times

A plan to divert water from Northern California to the state's agricultural heart in the drought-stricken Central Valley has residents and officials on the offensive.

February 13 - San Francisco Chronicle

Bike lanes and sharrows are being added to more streets in Indianapolis, which is a fairly new concept for the city and its drivers.

February 13 - The Indianapolis Star

Outdated or ugly building blighting your skyline? Maybe what it needs is a "facade graft".

February 13 - Gizmag

As homelessness rises in cities and suburbs across the country, local municipalities are trying to get the newly homeless back into homes as quickly as they can.

February 13 - Governing

We may not be driving flying cars, but the futuristic city is here -- in the form of a more intimate connections, communication technologies and social interactions. Former Planetizen Managing Editor Christian Madera discusses.

February 13 - Next American City

Due to its pounding beat and often sexual themes, funk music has been banned from Carnival by the mayor of a small Brazilian town.

February 12 - Reuters