The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Quincy, Massachusetts is planning to clear out 50 acres of its city center and build $1.3 billion in retail shops, offices, parking garages and more, plus $300m in new infrastructure. A new financial model is making it possible.

October 17 - Governing Magazine

How is the City of London incentivizing bike and ped commuters for helping improve the air? There's an App for that.

October 17 - Fast Company

South Carolina members of the Urban Land Institute met in Columbia, South Carolina to offer suggestions for overhauling Assembly Street, a major downtown thoroughfare that separates distinct areas of the urban core.

October 17 - The State

Because the Port Authority Bus Terminal lacks a garage, empty buses shuttle off to New Jersey for storage between the AM and PM commutes. The garage would have been funded by a higher toll, which NJ and NY governors rejected.

October 17 - NorthJersey.com

In the dense center of Mexico City, an architect has proposed a 65-story building - straight down.

October 16 - The Mail Online

At a recent press conference, ubiquitous Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told reporters he'd leave his post at the end of Obama's first term.

October 16 - The Wall St. Journal

The Town of Hull, Wisconsin's public safety committee is considering a new ordinance that bans bicyclists and pedestrians from some county roads - unless they get special permission.

October 16 - Stevens Point Journal

Citing the shift in economic activity at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Ginia Bellafonte makes a case for bringing transit manufacturing to this and similar areas of the city. Talent's not an issue, but financing always is.

October 16 - The New York Times

Which aspects of the regional transportation projects may underwhelm following months of compromise? Ariel Hart examines the plans, which serve both "mobility" and "political ends."

October 16 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Carl F. Meyer of Perkins+Will presents three things he strives for to make vibrant public spaces, and all three involve mixing it up.

October 15 - Fast Company

Richard Louv says we're drowning in a "sea of circuitry" and in desperate need to reconnect with greenery and nature in our living spaces to sooth our souls.

October 15 - Citiwire.net

The federal government approved a streamlined process to expedite the bridge's replacement. Key would be to remove transit plans for the new bridge, thus keeping costs down, but that has raised questions about not providing alternatives to driving.

October 15 - The New York Times - N.Y. / Region

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has mandated that city employees on the clock be required to ride Chicago Transit trains and buses, with a few exceptions, in order to get reimbursed. BJ Lutz reports.

October 15 - NBC Chicago

Communications Based Train Control (CBCT) will allow New York City's subways to run more efficiently than ever. But like with all service improvements, implementation will take some time and patience, write Josef Szende and Charles Komanoff.

October 15 - Streetsblog

In a recent episode of The Discovery Channel's "Mythbusters," hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman concluded that cars are a greener mode of transportation than motorcycles.

October 14 - The New York Times

A new GM ad implies that bikes aren't a sexy mode of transport for college kids.

October 14 - Grist

Republican Presidential candidate Herman Cain has been touting a plan where individuals, businesses and a national sales tax would all be 9%. Reporter Amanda Terkel says this sounds suspiciously similar to the default settings in SimCity.

October 14 - The Huffington Post

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) is fighting with Congress to extend a popular federal incentive program. Set to end on December 31 this year, the group states that the program could create 37,400 more jobs and add nearly 500 megawatt.

October 14 - Forbes

A recent Pew Research study revealed that 58% of 25-34 year old Americans own smartphones, and communicate with each other, and their city governments in new ways.

October 14 - American City and Country

A new exhibition curated by the Cooper-Hewitt in New York illustrates how the design community is trying to reshape itself as more collaborative than 'pedagogic or paternalistic.'

October 14 - The Atlantic