The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

CNN reports that a lack of building codes and the construction of vulnerable informal settlements may have contributed to the high death toll in Haiti's earthquake.

January 14 - CNN

A new study out in JAPA this week details the fire codes, zoning codes, subdivision regulations, etc., that prevent manufactured housing from being built.

January 14 - Journal Of The American Planning Association

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said yesterday that he would rescind a 2005 rule from the Bush administration that cost-effectiveness trump all other factors when approving transit projects.

January 14 - Streetsblog

This article from <em>Government Technology</em> looks at the idea of municipal Wi-Fi Internet access and why it has struggled to take off.

January 14 - Government Technology

NYC's Dept. of Education has committed to building 70 new playgrounds in the five boroughs.

January 14 - Crain's

The National Trust for Historic Preservation takes a look at the most significant buildings saved or restored in 2009, and the 'most crushing losses.'

January 14 - National Trust For Historic Preservation

While many of his supporters have criticized President Obama for not acting far or fast enough on their respective causes, Daniel J. Weiss argues that the President's environmental achievements in his first year were significant.

January 14 - Center for American Progress

Winter brings snowy conditions to roads in many cities, and many react with snow-melting salt solutions. But the physical and environmental damage of salt is leading some to look for other means of fighting the freeze.

January 14 - NRDC

Vancouver is preparing to take the global stage when it hosts the Winter Olympic next month. With all the sports-related pomp, the city's unique approach to sustainability will also fall under the spotlight.

January 14 - Los Angeles Times

FEATURE

Updated for Fall 2010, Planetizen's picks for the best news and observations about urban planning, design and development available on Twitter. Check out the new section of high-speed rail links, and visit our sister site www.hsrnews.com.

January 13 - Nate Berg

The state of California has adopted the nation's first green building codes, including a provision that allows local jurisdictions to keep or approve even stricter environmental building rules.

January 13 - San Francisco Chronicle

McMansions are often thought to be a U.S.-only problem, but Australians have the largest homes in the world, with houses in the state of New South Wales averaging 262.9 square meters (around 2800 sq. ft.).

January 13 - The Courier Mail

As incredible as it sounds, it's true. CA Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's scheme is to convert the sales tax on gas to an excise tax partly to circumvent a June court ruling that he had illegally diverted public transit funds to balance the state budget

January 13 - The Sacramento Bee

BLOG POST

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small">I’m going to riff off a recent Interchange Blog post by Michael Lewyn on the </span><a href="/node/42323"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; color: #800080; font-size: small">relationship between mobility and accessibility</span></a><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small">. Given the positive comments from the planning community to Michael’s post, a little engagement may be necessary for both clarity as well as fully understanding the implications of reading too much into the accessibility versus mobility debate. </span> </p>

January 13 - Samuel Staley

<em>Travel + Leisure</em> has released its list of America's "fittest" cities.

January 13 - Travel + Leisure

Anthony Flint, recent author of a book about Jane Jacobs, talks to ASLA's The Dirt blog about her influence on urban design and landscape architecture.

January 13 - ASLA's The Dirt blog

A new study from the Boston Consulting Group concludes that gasoline powered-vehicles will predominate till at least 2020; doubtful of their ability to attract customers, contradicting brighter industry forecasts predominantly due to battery costs.

January 13 - The New York Times - Energy & Environment

A $5.35 billion plan to build a light rail system in Honolulu, Hawaii, is on rocky ground as the state's governor has joined the opposition movement.

January 13 - the transport politic

UC Berkeley urban design students have proposed new, far-fetched proposals for reusing the soon-to-be-obsolete span of the San Francisco Bay Bridge. With space at a premium in the Bay Area, would a hotel, park or neighborhood actually work?

January 13 - The San Francisco Chronicle

Planners in Los Angeles are considering a plan to remove two lanes of a strip of downtown street to create parkspace for the formerly light-industrial area's growing populations.

January 13 - Los Angeles Times