The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Several states are eyeing moves to cap tax growth after property values have soared.

March 8 - The Christian Science Monitor

Washington Post columnist Roger K. Lewis argues that antiquated zoning laws, often written by lawyers instead of planners or designers, need an extensive makeover.

March 8 - The Washington Post

Bentonville, Ark., is the home of Wal-Mart and an "A-list destination for top executives." The economic power of of the County is belied by its rural history, although that is changing as it hurtles "rapidly toward an urban renaissance."

March 8 - The Wall Street Journal

L.A.'s South Central Farm, hailed as a model for sustainable living, faces destruction in the face of questionable motives.

March 8 - From the Wilderness

The police chief and criminologist-theorist argue that the crime-prevention theory really works, despite recent criticism.

March 8 - National Review

Property rights advocates clash with those who seek to preserve open space over some of Los Angeles last undeveloped land.

March 8 - The Los Angeles Times

Searching for fast disappearing skateboard space in Seattle, two activists took matters into their own hands and created a fully functioning park before the city caught on.

March 8 - The Seattle Stranger

Mike Davis previews his new book in a lengthy article in Orion Magazine.

March 8 - Orion

Measure 37 dramatically altered the planning and development landscape in Oregon. Now community-based environmental planning may be the only alternative for environmentalists.

March 8 - The Oregonian

San Francisco's Transportation Authority director views the initial results of Stockholm's congestion pricing as a good omen for his city's plan to implement a similar program.

March 7 - San Francisco Examiner

Since the 1970s, city officials in Lowell, Massachusetts, have been open minded to redevelopment strategies. Today, their patient efforts are paying off as condominium and apartment construction is helping to reinvent this former great textile city.

March 7 - The Boston Globe

A suburban Rochester town halts demolitions of older homes to be replaced with large 'McMansions'.

March 7 - Rochester Democrat & Chronicle

Michael Duffy, host of 'Counterpoint' on Australia's Radio National, interviews Joel Kotkin about Richard Florida's creative class theory and Kotkin's new book, "The City: A Global History."

March 7 - Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Radio National - Counterpoint

A developer finds an innovative space solution to create Boise's fourth tallest building.

March 7 - The Idaho Statesman

Expanding Maine's majestic Baxter State Park has proved to be far more controversial than state officials expected.

March 7 - Maine Sunday Telegram

When CBS profiled the suburban community of Webster Park, outside of St. Louis, few in the neighborhood realized how their culture would appear to outside observers.

March 7 - St. Louis Riverfront Times

California, leading the nation in job growth and personal income growth, saw a net loss of close to 30,000 residents to other states last year, according to the state's Department of Finance.

March 7 - The San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco Chronicle urban design writer John King comments on the city's newest 'supportive housing' development, the eight-story Plaza Apartments, located in the heart of skid row, to open on March 15.

March 7 - The San Francisco Chronicle

Two new studies show that Antarctica is losing ice because of global warming and contributing to higher sea levels, disproving earlier projections that increased snowfall would compensate for melting ice.

March 7 - The New York Times

Politicians, public officials and the public have come to a realization that Los Angeles needs to do something about homelessness. In a lengthy editorial, the Los Angeles Times suggests six attainable goals.

March 6 - The Los Angeles Times