The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Forever plagued with issues, from lack of funding to a lack of political support, Philadelphia's SEPTA mass-transit network is (again) on the verge of collapse.

June 22 - Philadelphia City Paper

Championed for over a decade, the LEED certification program has given notoriety to many newly constructed 'green' buildings, but new measures are helping us measure sustainability at the community scale, writes Kaid Benfield.

June 22 - Switchboard

Amanda Kolson Hurley surveys the innovative architecture and urban planning transforming America's notoriously stodgy capital into a model of progressive urbanism.

June 22 - The Architect's Newspaper

As cities across America seek to replicate New York's celebrated new park, Charles A. Birnbaum distills the secrets behind the High Line's success.

June 22 - Huffington Post

Asian and Hispanic immigration rates have reversed from 2007: Asians now constitute 36% of all new arrivals (legal and illegal) while Hispanic rates, for a number of reasons, have dropped to 31%, according to a new Pew Research Center report.

June 22 - The New York Times - U.S.

Mixed-income housing - infusing affordable housing with market-rate units - is relying more on incentives and subsidies, than mandates, to stimulate development.

June 21 - Urban Land

While glimmers of a recovery can be seen in the eyes of private business, local governments continue to see red, shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs.

June 21 - The New York Times

Hot on the heels of the hard fought passage of a new community plan for Hollywood comes news that the City Council has approved five years of funding for L.A.'s planning department to revise the city's zoning code, for the first time since 1946.

June 21 - Curbed LA

Andrew C. Revkin delivers the good news out of Rio, where global leaders are gathered to argue incessantly over how not to address climate change. At a side event, $175 billion in loans have been pledged for sustainable transportation.

June 21 - The New York Times

BLOG POST

<p> The High Line curving through the west Chelsea section of Manhattan bordering the Hudson River has to be one of the most successful planning and design stories in New York City in recent years, touted as a crowning achievement of the reign of Mayor Bloomberg, to be emulated in cities across the country. </p> <p> Testimonials and awards not withstanding, I am wary of the cloying elitism of a crowing Bloomberg. Having followed the project’s promotions for the last decade and the community’s evolution for the last half century, I am skeptical of its heralded success. And with the recent sounding of related development controversies, a second opinion is in order. </p>

June 21 - Sam Hall Kaplan

Announced this week by <em>All Things Considered</em> hosts Melissa Block and Robert Siegel, National Public Radio is launching a new series called the NPR Cities Project and they're asking listeners for their input.

June 21 - NPR

Concerned about becoming a "western Detroit," the city of Reno, built around the gambling industry, seeks to shake off that trademark with new investments in other industries and amenities.

June 21 - The Atlantic Cities

Nations like Denmark are leading the world in producing renewable energy. But the transition to renewables doesn’t just amount to the number of solar panels or wind turbines that can be built, it takes a smart grid to maximize their potential.

June 21 - THE DIRT

Recent recipient of the ASLA's Gold Medal, landscape architect Laurie Olin shares some interesting opinions on his distinguished career, landscape urbanism, and the state of public space.

June 21 - The Architect's Newspaper

Kim Severson follows the hipsters and food trucks to East Nashville to document a "down-on-its-luck side of town being brought to life one great plate of food at a time."

June 21 - The New York Times

The demolition of a Tulsa resident's edible garden, deemed "too tall" by city inspectors, has sparked a civil rights lawsuit, and is generating national attention.

June 21 - Grist

Wealthy families are using San Francisco's rent-controlled apartments as vacation homes, to the detriment of landlords and low-income families, for whom the regulations intended to preserve affordable housing were designed.

June 20 - San Francisco Chronicle

Efforts to alleviate urban food deserts has focused on the proximity of healthy food choices as a correlating factor for obesity. However, a new study concludes that price, rather than proximity, has a stronger correlation to rates of obesity.

June 20 - The Washington Post

Yesterday, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a controversial new Community Plan for Hollywood, the first update since 1988, that allows increased density around transit stations, to the consternation of some neighborhood groups.

June 20 - Los Angeles Times

Thanks to new technology embedded in the asphalt, the days of left-over meter minutes are gone in this southern CA beach city. Depending on whom you ask, parking is now managed more efficiently or the city is just making more money.

June 20 - The New York Times - U.S.