The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

As traffic congestion has worsened, so has the philosophical divide between LA and Orange counties in terms of how to address it.

November 18 - Los Angeles Times

With its rich history and wealth of artifacts, palaces, and natural beauty, some wonder if tourism could help Iraq to recover.

November 18 - BBC News Magazine

The Gold Line extension served 75,000 riders for its grand opening, but ridership dropped by over two-thirds for its first weekday operations.

November 18 - Los Angeles Times

As Transport Secretary Lord Adonis tours railway stations most in need of help, the BBC News Magazine asks, "what makes a bad railway station?"

November 17 - BBC News Magazine

UCLA's cityLAB sponsored a competition to envision new ways public works projects could be used to improve the country's infrastructure. The winning idea: algae-based urban parks connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn.

November 17 - Fast Company

Citizen volunteers are democratizing the field of online mapping, spreading out to document neighborhoods and streets worldwide.

November 17 - New York Times

Bob Herbert wonders why the United States appears to have forgotten about the importance of its built infrastructure, and imagines what the future could hold.

November 17 - New York Times

Bensenville, Illinois has been fighting an O'Hare airport expansion tooth and nail for decades. A new mayor signaled a change of heart (and a $16 million settlement).

November 17 - Chicago Tribune

The Nottingham Contemporary, a stark new museum building in London, exhibits none of the architectural excess of the past several years in contemporary architecture, says critic Tom Dyckhoff.

November 17 - The Times Online

$320 million dollars and 13 years after construction began, the Northstar commuter rail began running today between Big Lake and Minneapolis.

November 17 - Star Tribune

As termed-out Mayor Manny Diaz leaves office in Miami, <em>The Miami Herald</em>'s Andres Viglucci takes a look back at the impact Diaz had on the city's growth.

November 17 - The Miami Herald

This chart from the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto looks at North America's musical epicenters -- cities where the most music is produced.

November 17 - Creative Class Exchange

An extension of one of L.A.'s light rail lines opened this past weekend. <em>Los Angeles Times</em> architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne offers a hopeful prediction that the extension will inspire an improvement in streetlife.

November 17 - Los Angeles Times

BLOG POST

<p> This week, I finally got around to looking at the latest (2009) Texas Transportation Institute study on traffic congestion. (1) </p> <p> Two facts struck me as interesting.  First, the great congestion surge of the past decade or two is over.  In most large metropolitan areas, congestion (measured as hours lost to congestion per traveler) peaked around 2005, and actually declined in 2005-07.  For example, in Atlanta, hours lost to congestion peaked at 61, and decreased to 57 by 2007.  Congestion increased in only three of the fourteen largest regions (Washington, Detroit and Houston)- and in each of these by only one hour per traveler. </p>

November 16 - Michael Lewyn

Recently the NYC Planning Dept. announced its 100th rezoning since Bloomberg took office. This article takes a spin through the city's remarkable shift in the last 50 years away from industry to business and tourism and a sustainable approach.

November 16 - New York Observer

The planning staff of Buffalo, NY lobbied ABC to bring their program Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to Buffalo - and change their suburban standards to New Urbanist ones.

November 16 - Buffalo Rising

Enrique Penalosa, famed as the "Father of Bus Rapid Transit," pays a visit to the Ahmedabad BRTS in Gujarat, India. Penalosa was positive, but doesn't think it goes far enough in catering to pedestrians over cars.

November 16 - DNA India

Imagine this: Replacing the sales tax on purchasing a new vehicle and annual, 'fixed' fees with a VMT fee based on size, weight, and CO2 emissions of the vehicle. This is the plan of the Dutch government to reduce congestion and greenhouse gases.

November 16 - Breitbart.com

In light of recent transit accidents, especially the Red Line crash in Washington, DC suburbs, the Obama Administration is seeking legislation to set and enforce safety standards on transit systems nationwide.

November 16 - The New York Times

FEATURE

Mike Lydon reports from the CNU Transportation Summit in Portland, Oregon, the country's laboratory of smart growth. "Change is imminent," says Congressman Earl Blumenauer via video.

November 16 - Mike Lydon