The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

There's a glut of ethanol on the market, and the solutions to consume it are not easy. The maximum blend in gasoline is 10% before it affects the catalytic converter, and E85 can't compete with the more efficient, though more expensive, gasoline.

November 30 - The New York Times - Energy & Environment

New plans have been released by Gensler that show a proposed expansion of the holy city of Mecca.

November 30 - The Architect's Journal

BLOG POST

<p> Those of us whose professional lives are inextricably linked to the real estate development economy in one way or another have had plenty of time in the last year to twiddle our thumbs and attempt to figure out what the heck happened. This much we know — there was a housing bubble some places, it burst, and the economy collapsed. Have you ever slipped and fell – one those unexpected spectacular aerial feats where your feet fly out from underneath you, you look down your legs and see your toes at eye level pointing to the sky, and you say to yourself “this is really going to hurt when I land”? That’s what this year has been like for many, some of whom are still waiting to hit hard because they had projects in the pipeline and they are grinding their way through “inventory” of unfinished work. Plus, we started from a high plateau. Wall Street types call the unexpected but apparent life in the market during the first part of a recession “<a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/deadcatbounce.asp">dead cat bounce</a>” which Forbes defines as “a temporary recovery from a prolonged decline or bear market, after which the market continues to fall.” Even a dead cat dropped from a very high place will bounce a little when it hits the ground… </p>

November 30 - Dwight Merriam

Some local food activists are taking their movement to a whole new territory: urban hunting.

November 30 - The New York Times

Richard Louv proposes that local groups use the land trust model to create small public spaces, or what he calls "button parks."

November 30 - Citiwire.net

Like many American cities, Lansing, Michigan, has been afflicted with sprawl since the end of World War II. Locals have identified the culprit: separate-use zoning.

November 30 - Lansing City Pulse

The village of Cowichan Bay, British Colombia, has been named the first "Slow City" in North America. This report from <em>Living on Earth</em> tours the town.

November 30 - Living on Earth

BLOG POST

<p> New Jersey&#39;s prized gateway communities along Long Beach Island - South Jersey&#39;s extra-special vacation spot better known to the planning community for its prescient example as human habitation threatened by natural erosion in Ian McHarg&#39;s planning tome “<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Design-Nature-Wiley-Sustainable/dp/047111460X">Design with Nature</a>” - are facing an entirely man-made threat in the form of ill-conceived plans to effectively double the roadway “capacity” of the one and only bridge connecting this 18 mile barrier island to the mainland.  If NJDOT is left to its own devices, and <a href="http://www.app.com/article/20091117/NEWS/911170348/1070/NEWS02">local community officials rush them along</a>, a proposed new bridge will have the complete opposi

November 30 - Ian Sacs

FEATURE

In the battle against climate change, cities will be even more important than we think, says Michael Mehaffy, managing director of the Sustasis Foundation. Research presented in Copenhagen shows that Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMTs) are only part of the story, and should not be considered in isolation from other factors.

November 30 - Michael Mehaffy

Last week, officials in Qatar inked a deal with Germany's Deutsche Bahn to develop local and high-speed rail links at an estimated cost of $25 billion.

November 30 - the transport politic

In the midst of discussions over "food deserts" (areas of town with no access to fresh groceries, usually poor urban neighborhoods) comes news that a program creating food stamps for farmers markets is booming in New York City.

November 29 - The New York Times

The Orange Country Great Park has received the official go-ahead, with a dedication of $65 million for the first phase of construction.

November 29 - The Architect's Newspaper

Tax revenues were down during the third quarter of 2009 in 44 states, according to a new report from the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government.

November 29 - Stateline

In Ashtabula, Ohio, City Manager Tony Cantagallo is incensed that a handful of downtown businesses neglecting their storefronts are holding back the attempts to revitalize Main Avenue.

November 29 - The Star Beacon

Houseboats are usually thought of as unique, single-family homes. Erikstad Architecture proposes creating a more uniform set of condo-like floating homes.

November 29 - dornob.com

Mark Dery looks back at the birth and death of the mall, from Victor Gruen to the present collapse, then beyond to proposals for reusing and revitalizing mall spaces.

November 28 - Design Observer

This post from Richard Florida looks at the geography of obesity in America, and relates state obesity rates to the rates of death from various diseases.

November 28 - Creative Class Exchange

In an aggravated road rage incident that has been boiled down to simply being a "bad day", a North Carolina man has been sentenced to four months in jail for shooting a cyclist in the head.

November 28 - Mountain XPress

Koolhaas calls architecture to task (and includes himself) for not engaging directly enough with the issues of sustainability and ecology in building.

November 28 - OMA*AMO Architecture

The UK government is hoping to achieve part of it's renewable energy production mandate by harnessing the tidal power of its largest river. Opponents say the plan could destroy the river's ecosystem.

November 28 - Living on Earth