The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

A group of mayor in the metropolitan Vancouver area have proposed an increase in the gas tax to develop a fund for a long-stalled transit project.

July 12 - The Globe and Mail

The Council of Community & Economic Research pulled together data on the 340+ urban areas in the U.S. and determined which are the most affordable to live in. Texas cities come out on top.

July 12 - Bloomberg BusinessWeek

While some have pigeonholed him as anti-business, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn is taking the city through the recovery of the economy in a positive but potentially hard-to-swallow way, according to this column.

July 12 - The Seattle Times

Rail projects throughout the U.S. are hard hit by the downturn in the economy. The agencies behind them are trying to find ways to keep the projects from falling apart.

July 12 - Architect Magazine

New playground designs are shaking up public parks around the world. So long, slides, hello interpretive playscapes.

July 12 - Dwell

Legislation in California that officially dissolves its redevelopment agencies offers them the chance to stay alive -- but at a cost that may be too high for some.

July 12 - The Architect's Newspaper

The city of Murcia, Spain recently opened a new streetcar system, and is offering lifetime passes to the trolley for anyone who gives up their car for good.

July 11 - Shareable

The sometimes decades-long gap between cause and effect makes it difficult to reverse long-standing transportation & planning policies, says Ben Brown.

July 11 - PlaceShakers

The rate of workers who commute by bike continues to increase, but it reflects a decidedly white demographic, specifically men. The Washington Post examines biking through the lens of race and gender.

July 11 - The Washington Post

George Skelton of The Los Angeles Times contends that one of Schwarzenegger's biggest blunders as governor of California was lowering the vehicle license fee to 0.65%.

July 11 - The Los Angeles Times

Scheduled to open in two months on the day after the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, project architect Michael Arad and landscape architect Peter Walker discuss their masterpiece.

July 11 - The Wall Street Journal

FEATURE

Jay Walljasper argues that the era of specialized, Spandex-clad bicyclists dominating the road is coming to an end - the future is in normal folk taking to the road and taking advantage of the numerous benefits to society that comes from bicycling.

July 11 - Jay Walljasper

Airlines argue in the European Court of Justice that the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is an overreach when imposed on flights to/from Europe.

July 11 - The Economist

U. of Toronto economist Matthew Turner discusses his study that shows that building more traffic lanes attracts more traffic. Likewise, providing more transit may lure motorists out of their cars, but those motorists are replaced.

July 11 - NPR:All Things Considered

Hong Kong and Singapore experienced a double-digit growth in the housing market. And so did Ireland - albeit in the opposite direction. In the U.S., prices dropped about 5% from last year. What gives?

July 11 - The Economist

A graduate class in San Jose State's urban planning program surveyed parking lots at 12 housing developments by rail stations in Santa Clara County to see how well utilized they were and offer recommendations on parking codes.

July 11 - Northern News-California APA

Through a combination of local food initiatives and the installation of a new high-speed fiber optic network, the city of Chattanooga is hoping to continue its trend of recovering from years of industrial decline.

July 11 - Citiwire

Making urban data available is important, but not as important as presenting that data in a digestible way, according to this piece from <em>Change Observer</em>.

July 10 - Change Observer

Construction is underway to prepare the Russian resort city of Sochi for its hosting of the 2014 Winter Olympics. But it's not just venues for the games that are being built.

July 10 - The Voice of Russia

OF the many written works about Los Angeles, Mike Davis' "City of Quartz" stands out, according to this review by <em>Los Angeles Times</em> architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne.

July 10 - Los Angeles Times