The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

The Wall St. Journal reports that some homeowners are selling their underwater homes at a loss and turning right around and investing in new homes with lower mortgage rates and getting more house in the process.

July 28 - The Wall St. Journal

In this radio interview, KQED-FM reporter Kitty Felde interviews UCLA professor and parking guru Don Shoup on what he now calls "performance parking", a form of smart parking that includes congestion pricing used in D.C., SF, and soon LA.

July 28 - KQED: California Report

July 29th is the day Arizona's new tough illegal immigration law goes into effect. As immigrants flee the state in fear of being arrested, neighborhoods are emptying and small businesses are feeling the lack of customers.

July 28 - The Los Angeles Times

San Francisco has always been home to utopian dreamers. With a clean slate to work on in the middle of the bay, the city has drafted plans for a sustainable utopia. With politics and money kicking in, will the dream be dashed?

July 28 - Shareable

Bike Blogger Richard Masoner offers some tips on how to successfully advocate for effective bicycle facilities, covering the gamut from bike parking to placement of bike sharrows.

July 28 - Cyclelicious (bicycle blog)

A new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council shows that many parts of the Great Plains and the Southwest U.S. are facing severe water shortages in the near future.

July 28 - National Geographic

Firearms collected by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in a collection drive will be melted down and turned into rebar used in state infrastructure projects.

July 28 - Los Angeles Times

In Melbourne, Australia, a frayed power line gave way today at Southern Cross Station. The resulting domino effect took out most of the city's transit system during the heavy morning commute.

July 27 - The Age (Australia)

Sausalito, just across the Bay from SF, has replaced attendants with pay stations in four parking lots. While embedded sensors monitor vehicle activity in the lots, residents are given a tag to hang in their vehicles providing 3 hours free parking.

July 27 - Marin Independent Journal

A proposed development on a vacant lot in ailing Cleveland could connect locals with a little-known asset of their community - a cluster of food wholesalers.

July 27 - The Cleveland Plain Dealer

On July 22, the congressional attempt to pass comprehensive climate change legislation officially ended for the year. That day the World Resources Institute unveiled a report assessing carbon reductions possible under existing federal and state law.

July 27 - The New York Times - Environment - Green (Blog)

The emphasis on high speed rial in the U.S. overlooks the potential harm it could cause to the nation's powerful freight rail system, according to this piece from <em>The Economist</em>.

July 27 - The Economist

Urban Land Institute president Patrick L. Phillips says his hometown of Kansas City needs to mend its car-centric infrastructure and encourage denser growth in the suburbs.

July 27 - The Kansas City Star

It's been nearly three weeks since Los Angeles Planning Director Gail Goldberg resigned. Now, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has nominated a new director: Michael LoGrande.

July 27 - California Planning and Development Report

The planned high speed rail connection between Victorville, California and Las Vegas is expected to create 50,000 temporary jobs. Only 700 will become permanent.

July 27 - The Las Vegas Sun

Most of rural America is getting older. But not all of it.

July 27 - The Daily Yonder

Despite flowing through ten different nations, the Nile's water is only technically the property of Egypt and Sudan. The other eight nations are trying to change that. But as the debate heats up, the river's ecosystem may be caught in the cross-fire.

July 27 - Yale Environment 360

New research on the supposedly irrational patterns of behavior by drivers shows that bad driving decisions are predictable.

July 26 - In Transition

A new bus rapid transit project has begun construction in Amman, Jordan -- a first for the country.

July 26 - Treehugger

Bogotá, Colombia changed public opinion about jaywalking by putting mimes on the street to mock people who crossed illegally. Paul Romer of Stanford looks at other interventions that changed public opinion when laws couldn't.

July 26 - City Journal