The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Emily Badger of The Atlantic Cities explores the economic and environmental advantages of refurbishing old buildings over constructing new ones.

November 8 - The Atlantic Cities

In Dubai, the Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world. But it shares one problem will all skyscrapers in Dubai - there is no central sewage infrastructure to accommodate the waste they produce.

November 8 - Boing Boing

The San Diego Planning Commission has rubber stamped a massive Zaha Hadid-designed private home. The dramatic architecture has had locals forming "anti-Zaha coalitions."

November 8 - The Architect's Newspaper

NYC Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan gives a tour of the city's new bike lanes from the only logical vantage point - on a bike.

November 8 - The New York Times

The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art opens next Friday in Bentonville, Arkansas, and Holly Finn says "sophisticates" who gripe that the collection should be less remote and more accessible are elitist.

November 8 - The Wall St. Journal

Op-ed columnist Andrew Ross notes that while some progressive cities are being lauded for sustainable, green design, most American cities struggle to achieve sustainable results that are available to all residents.

November 8 - The New York Times

ArtPlace America has issued a landmark series of grants dedicated to supporting the 'creative class' and enhance communities through the arts. Organizations in California snagged eight of thirty-four grants nationwide.

November 8 - California Planning & Development Report

Illegal apartments present a quandary for the city of New York: they increase the danger of fire, but also provide needed shelter that couldn't be found elsewhere. Some experts think a path to legalization could work.

November 8 - City Limits

Attach a digital camera to a balloon or kite, and what do you get? An easy tool for public participation in land use decisions, says Eymund Diegel of the Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science.

November 8 - The Mobile City

A UC Berkeley traffic study shows dramatic reductions in travel time for all Bay Bridge traffic after tolls were restructured July, 2010, applying the region's first congestion charge and charging half price for carpools, ending their free passage.

November 7 - San Francisco Chronicle

In the thick of the campaign, the American Institute of Architects invited the eleven major candidates for mayor of San Francisco to debate their respective visions for the City by the Bay.

November 7 - The Examiner

Elizabeth Currid-Halkett examins the viability of arts driven urban revitalization and finds that the strongest predictor of success is the nature of the art being produced and exhibited in the neighborhood.

November 7 - The New York Times

FEATURE

November 7 - Tim Halbur

A return to community focused development is changing the design of neighborhoods across the country. Leon Kaye explains how the Mountain View Co-Housing's 19 new condos could provide a model for other cities.

November 7 - The Guardian

Witold Rybczynski crams a lot of insight into a very brief blog post on the issues of "playground cities" such as New Orleans that attract tourists and are flooded with vacation homes.

November 7 - Witold Rybczynski's blog

Last week, Boulder, Colorado voters approved the idea of firing their power company in favor of generating their own.

November 7 - GOOD Magazine

Revitalization has come to East Harlem, but a number of apartment buildings are left vacant by their owners until they can be turned over or the market recovers enough for higher rents.

November 7 - The New York Times

The Orlando Sentinel talks with Bill Warren, city manager of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which is a semi-autonomous government that runs the land under Disney World.

November 7 - The Orlando Sentinel

The new $98 billion price tag and 2033 completion date in the revised HSR Authority's business plan applies to the first phase, meaning that the extensions to San Diego and Sacramento will take even longer, leaving some San Diegan leaders seething.

November 7 - AP via The Sacramento Bee

A recent Urban Land Institute panel discusses where real estate is headed, based on the publication 'What's Ahead for Real Estate Through 2020'. From Baby Boomers to Gen-Y, demand is changing, and developers are beginning to tune in.

November 6 - The Planning Report