The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Mayors across the country are facing the possible loss of federal Community Development Block Grants, which could pull many local projects aimed at helping low-income residents to a halt.

January 27 - Governing

Two soccer teams in England are in the midst of a battle over who will take over the stadium being built for the 2012 Olympics in London. They're arguing over who will leave the better legacy.

January 27 - The Guardian

When Los Angeles drained Owens Lake to bring water into its quickly growing urban basin, it simultaneously created a dry lakebed and one of the worst dust pollution problems in America. Various efforts to fight the problem have only failed.

January 27 - Places

The DC United soccer team has identified a few small urban sites in the Washington D.C. area to build a possible new stadium. The density and urbanity of these sites virtually guarantees a "very urban stadium", according to this post.

January 27 - Greater Greater Washington

New Urbanist Stefanos Polyzoides is profiled by the <em>Los Angeles Times</em>, which mentions a few projects the architect and planners is working on in East L.A. and Fresno.

January 27 - Los Angeles Times

New stats showing an increase in pedestrian deaths from automobile accidents have brought attention to urban design issues. But the Wall St. Journal's automotive critic places the blame squarely on the pedestrians themselves.

January 26 - Grist

Former Palo Alto Mayor Yoriko Kishimoto has formed "Friends of Caltrain" to help prevent the train from spiraling downhill due to lack of funds. The tri-county train faces a $30 million deficit, with a total budget of just under $100 million.

January 26 - Streetsblog San Francisco

MCP student Jeff Tiell says that everyday people finally understand that urban planning is important and interesting, indicating a popularization of, and a deep need for, planning methods and techniques.

January 26 - Next American City

Planned as an super-opulent development off the coast of Dubai, the artificial archipelago "The World" appears to be sinking back into the sea.

January 26 - Telegraph

Hundreds of townships in Indiana serve fewer than 1,000 people each, prompting some government officials to call for consolidation to reduce wasted resources.

January 26 - The Indianapolis Star

Planners in Jacksonville are getting behind plans to encourage more infill development by getting rid of an older rule that was seen to contribute to sprawl.

January 26 - The Florida Times-Union

While transportation activists in Los Angeles are getting behind a plan to cram 30 years of transportation projects into a decade, environmentalists in nearby San Diego want to do 50 years worth in the same amount of time.

January 26 - Streetsblog LA

Getting around Atlanta can be a challenge, according to some in the city. And as growth continues, public transit will need to play a bigger part in moving the city, according to this article.

January 26 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

With a downtown largely devoid of trees, Minneapolis is considering a new plan that would add more green life and greenspace to the city's center.

January 26 - MinnPost

This debate from <em>China Daily</em> offers a point-counterpoint over whether Chinese cities should be embarking on major subway building projects.

January 26 - China Daily

Yonah Freemark tackles the big question, as House Republicans deliver an agenda to reduce federal spending that proposes deep cuts to transit spending.

January 25 - the transport politic

Artist Tracy Snelling makes obsessively detailed miniature reconstructions of mundane landscapes like liquor stores, strip clubs, McDonalds and Walmarts.

January 25 - Hi Fructose

With a new plan called "Connecting El Paso", the Texas city is on track for a transit-oriented future. Kaid Benfield says the plan is "nothing less than a comprehensive guide to smart growth design and implementation."

January 25 - NRDC Blog

The Boston Globe discovers that midsize towns across Massachusetts are ditching the mall and revitalizing their downtowns.

January 25 - The Boston Globe

The U.S. spends far less on its infrastructure than many other countries, which some say will hurt the nation's competitiveness. The U.S. needs to build infrastructure, but as Neal Peirce argues, with a few caveats.

January 25 - Citiwire