The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

The Denver Regional Transportation District is forecasting an increasing gap between what it will cost to complete the region's FasTracks light rail system and how much taxpayer money will be available to fund its construction.

January 8 - The Denver Post

This article looks at how a Connecticut journalist used the online nuisance reporting tool SeeClickFix to get locals involved in his newspaper's newsgathering and storytelling.

January 8 - The New York Times

That's how newly-developed communities are making it work, says Laura Wright in this in-depth look at how sprawl happened in Chicago and how smart growth is revitalizing the city.

January 7 - NRDC's onearth

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) selects its issues to look for in the year ahead, including more legislation aimed at distracted drivers and the use of social media by transportation agencies.

January 7 - ThomasNet News

Regional planning in CA's sprawling Central Valley has turned to the huge challenge of increasing density. Fortunately, SB 375 will facilitate planners' efforts to double Fresno County density to 8 units per acre. Yet institutional obstacles remain.

January 7 - The Fresno Bee

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has come out as a strong proponent of bringing nuclear power back into the state's energy fold.

January 7 - The Arizona Republic

A video from The Boston Globe takes a look into the world below the city's subway system.

January 7 - The Boston Globe

Local food and small farming are part of a growing food trend in the U.S. But, as Steph Larsen writes, the trend is going to need more infrastructure down the supply chain to sustain itself

January 7 - Grist

A 137-mile clean energy transmission line has been approved in the UK, connecting wind and wave power facilities near the coast. But some environmental groups are not happy about the plan.

January 7 - Guardian

Though he originally planned to build a prayer center on part of a 20 acre property he was pursuing, a Texas Pastor has expanded his plans into an all-out neighborhood with more than 450 homes.

January 7 - The Houston Chronicle

Once the Capital of Black America, Harlem is undergoing a population shift that is taking blacks out of the majority.

January 7 - The New York Times

The Burj Khalifa has opened in Dubai. Now, locals say, the development of the city's public life must begin.

January 7 - The National

FEATURE

January 6 - Jack Finn

Hillsboro, Oregon, a suburb of Portland, is an ambitious town on the urban growth boundary that is eager to expand into the farmland next door. How will Portland's system of growth-slowing government respond?

January 6 - GOOD Magazine

CA's chronic budget deficit has taken its toll on transportation funding, be it public transit operations or fixing potholes. An initiative has been launched to prevent diversion of transportation funds just as the Gov. proposed another scheme.

January 6 - The San Diego Union-Tribune

This slideshow from the <em>BBC</em> explores how Beijing's iconic Bird's Nest Olympic stadium is being reused -- as a kids theme park.

January 6 - BBC

Transportation officials in Texas are recommending a fresh look at the prospect of taxing the state's drivers by the mile.

January 6 - The Houston Chronicle

While car use is growing in Beijing and other Chinese cities, cars account for less than 1% of trips in the Xiguan district of Guangzhou. Karl Fjellstrom explains how the city has used preserved its historic core for walking.

January 6 - Carbusters

Forty years ago, an unusual proposal for a pyramid-shaped skyscraper caused outrage across San Francisco. Today, it is recognized as a worthy addition to the skyline. John King looks at the building's transformation from eyesore to icon.

January 6 - The San Francisco Chronicle

NASA satellite imagery reveals that two of California's main groundwater sources are being rapidly depleted by agriculture and exurban development.

January 6 - The Christian Science Monitor