The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

As the Winter Olympics kick off in Vancouver, the city has been named the world's "most livable city".

February 12 - Reuters

The Portland City Council unanimously approved a $613 million, 20 year plan to improve the city's bike infrastructure.

February 12 - Portland Business Journal

Keeping government open and accountable has led to some problems for cities, according to John D. Donahue.

February 12 - Governing

California is looking to fast-track a pilot project that would exempt some construction projects from environment-related legal challenges. It's a move aimed at speeding development and creating jobs, but critics say it will harm the environment.

February 12 - The Desert Sun

This post from <em>The City Fix</em> looks at the investment Mumbai is making in developing a citywide mass transit system.

February 12 - The City Fix

A new demographic tool from the USDA compiles data about food choices and characteristics, allowing the creation of detailed maps. <em>Edible Geography</em> wonders what using food as a metric will tell us about the U.S.

February 12 - Edible Geography

<em>Grist</em> takes a look at the Olympic city of Vancouver, and lists some of its greenest attributes, and some of its less-than-green downfalls.

February 12 - Grist

BLOG POST

<p>I recently posted an open-ended question on facebook to my <em>friends</em> about Governor Palin, asking for their views. It was remarkable how condescending many of those views turned out to be, just as Gerard Alexander noted in his excellent February 4 Washington Post editorial. </p><p>Herewith are my thoughts on the tea party thing - whatever it is - and how it relates to the challenges faced by the New Urbanists and advocates for Smart Growth....</p>

February 12 - Charles Buki

An op-ed by Los Angeles County Supervisor criticizes the Grade Crossing Policy employed by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority in the recent approval of a light rail extension.

February 12 - The Planning Report

One of London's major soccer teams is floating plans to rebuild its stadium. But with its location in one of the city's most impoverished sections, many say the new plan doesn't do enough for its neighborhood.

February 12 - London Evening Standard

The developers that purchased L.A.'s Century Plaza Hotel, a swooping mid-century building, planned to raze it and start over. Preservationists fought back, and a new plan has been announced to preserve a significant section of it.

February 11 - Los Angeles Times

Pedestrianized area's in Manhattan's Herald Square and Times Square will remain permanently closed to auto traffic.

February 11 - Crain's New York Business

After 30 years of government studies of a regional transportation system, an influential private-sector group is set to unveil its own plan that includes commuter rail and even toll lanes added to local interstate highways.

February 11 - Indianapolis Business Journal

Houston Mayor Annise Parker is considering a big shake-up of the city's public transportation, including the option of transitioning to a fare-free system.

February 11 - The Houston Chronicle

With water in increasing demand and unsustainable land use patterns threatening supplies, a new report claims that nearly 40% of the earth's surface is arid and in danger of desertification.

February 11 - Science Daily

This post from IBM's <em>A Smarter Planet</em> blog looks at how advanced monitoring techniques and analytics are helping to improve the management of sewage and wastewater in cities like Sacramento and Dubuque.

February 11 - A Smarter Planet

The winner of the SHIFTboston Ideas Competition is a proposal to turn the unused Tremont Street Subway tunnel under Boston Common into a network of underground cultural venues.

February 11 - Metropolis Magazine

The Obama administration has cancelled two Federal programs - Save America's Treasures and Preserve America - that were responsible for the restoration of nearly 900 historic structures over the past 10 years.

February 11 - Treehugger

Huffington Post offers a slide show of finalists in the 2010 Michelin Challenge to come up with the electric cars of the future. The radical designs include unicycles, rolling spheres and designs based on flying fish.

February 11 - Huffington Post

This piece from <em>Urban Re:Vision Magazine</em> looks at a variety of water reuse and stormwater capture projects in cities across the U.S.

February 11 - Urban Re:Vision