The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Charles Marohn is a traffic engineer. Despite years of training and millenia of precedents, Marohn now feels that the common practice of traffic engineering is creating bad and even unsafe streets.

November 23 - Strong Towns

Officials in Los Angeles are trying to streamline the process of getting projects permitted and approved -- an effort that could rapidly increase the amount of time it takes to develop in the city.

November 23 - LA Downtown News

New York City's Health Commissioner has urban design in his sights as he seeks to improve public health in the city.

November 23 - Transportation Nation

In California, passage of Proposition 26 has raised the question of whether fees used for public services will be jeopardized at the local level. Some argue most fees will be unaffected, but others could take a hit.

November 23 - The Sacramento Bee

Though private sector employment shows signs of recovery, the National League of American Cities predicts 500,000 municipal workers will lose their jobs over the current and coming fiscal years. The Economist considers solutions.

November 23 - The Economist

New York City presents three options for transforming the six-lane Brooklyn-Queens Expressway by covering it with vegetation and making streetscape improvements.

November 23 - The Architect's Newspaper

Things looked grim for the Central Subway project last week, as SF officials were facing an impending deadline to come up with $137 million to match federal funds. This week, Mayor Newsom and MTC seem to have found a way.

November 23 - The San Francisco Chronicle

The city of New York is hoping a new set of cameras will help to catch car drivers using bus-only lanes.

November 23 - The New York Times

Even as New York has pushed forward with 250 miles of new bike lanes, the city is actually removing one 2.35 mile stretch after complaints from motorists.

November 23 - The New York Times

With a growing belief in the streetcars' ability to catalyze redevelopment, cities are jockeying for federal and local funds to build retro transit systems in their downtowns.

November 23 - California Planning & Development Report

Mother Jones magazine reports on how tea party hostility towards "big government" is now being levelled at Agenda 21 and other smart growth initiatives, in the belief that they are part of an international conspiracy.

November 22 - Mother Jones

Lax enforcement of standards created to limit exhaust from idling diesel-powered vehicles and buses shows that there is still work to be done in Mayor Richard Daley's quest to position Chicago atop the list of the nation's greenest cities.

November 22 - The Chicago Tribune

The surge in city investment in bicycle lanes and the recent passing of various pro-bicycle laws has greatly irked many residents. Complaints have been leveled at everything from vehicle flow disruption to "extraordinarily ugly" lane paint choices.

November 22 - The New York Times

A group of citizens calling themselves Destination Bayfront have led the charge to turn their underused waterfront into a destination hotspot.

November 22 - Project for Public Spaces blog

Colloseo, a restaurant in San Francisco's North Beach, wants to feature Luca, their opera-singing waiter, as part of the ambience. The Telegraph Hill Dwellers, an influential neighborhood situation, says no.

November 22 - The San Francisco Chronicle

FEATURE

Planetizen is pleased to release its ninth annual list of the ten best books in urban planning, design and development published in 2010. This year's selection includes some big names, some big ideas -- and a book called "Toilet."

November 22 - Abhijeet Chavan

While builders still see social media as "consuming to sustain and difficult to track", they are experimenting more and more with unconventional ways to connect with potential buyers over the Internet.

November 22 - Builder Magazine

The mayor of Mt. Clemens, Michigan is turning to an unlikely source to help pay for stretched city services -- local non-profits. With 42% of city property tax exempt, Mayor Dempsey is asking non-profits to pay as if they were taxed.

November 22 - Detroit Free Press

DOT Secretary Ray LaHood's passion is eliminating the threat of distracted driving from cellphones and texting. Now he's taking it a step further and saying the in the future cellphone scramblers might be mandatory in cars.

November 22 - Switched

Details are now just emerging about a proposal from NYC Mayor Bloomberg to further extend the IRT #7 line from the West Side station by a planned, massive new development, Hudson Yards. Cheaper than a commuter rail tunnel, it would serve NJ Transit.

November 22 - The New York Times - N.Y. / Region