The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Philadelphia is considering renaming a stop on the Broad Street Subway 'AT&T Station' for $3 million. With transit agencies hurting, is this a solution or a sell-out?

June 26 - the transport politic

Martin Pedersen of Metropolis Magazine explains how a city ordinance termed the 'plaza bonus,' lead to the creation of more than five hundred "privately financed, privately owned, but public spaces."

June 26 - Metropolis

Will airports become the "anchors of 21st century development," as Prof. John Kasarda believes? Kasarda spoke in Edmonton, Alberta, where planners are considering developing airport-adjacent greenfields into dense development.

June 26 - Edmonton Journal

Vision California, the state's first planning document in over thirty years, was released Wednesday and concludes that planners "should focus on creating compact development in already established cities," over continued suburban sprawl.

June 25 - San Francisco Chronicle

Known as PPPs, these consortiums combine the best of public and private sectors to finance, build and operate large projects quickly and efficiently. The 23-mile rail line from downtown's Union Station is expected to start soon and open in 2016.

June 25 - The Denver Post

The 'Twilight' series of books and movies has created a tourism industry in the small town of Forks, Washington, population 3,120.

June 25 - USA Today

Architect Christos Floros of Athens, Greece says that the city is constantly facing "architectural cleansing" as war, rapid population growth, and greed sweep away historic buildings.

June 25 - The Naked City

A new project aimed at reducing car reliance in world cities has paired ten architects with ten cities to create a redesigned public space that encourages a mix of transit modes.

June 25 - WNYC

Census estimates show that St. Petersburg, Florida, lost population between 2008 and 2009 -- a decline that's expected to continue.

June 25 - St. Petersburg Times

The city of Vancouver has announced a plan to dedicate $100,000 to fund neighborhood-based food security projects.

June 25 - The Vancouver Sun

New York City is moving forward with a plan to create a singular clearinghouse of public agency information -- an effort to help improve the way city departments work together.

June 25 - Urban Omnibus

<em>Chicago Tribune</em> architecture critic Blair Kamin reviews a few mall retrofits and finds that breathing life back into a dead mall can be a challenge.

June 25 - Chicago Tribune

An auto company has a new design competition to imagine a future city that is car-friendly.

June 25 - Scientific American

BLOG POST

<p> Given today it the release date of the new iPhone, I want to talk about something else at Apple the really caught my attention -- their automated customer care.   Last week I had to call Apple to find out how to get the sales tax removed from a purchase given our 501(c)3 status.  It was a complicated set of questions I needed to ask -- and yet the conversation was as smooth as talking to a live person.  It struck me I was getting a sneak preview of something that is going to radically transform how we use technology on a daily basis -- FINALLY. </p>

June 24 - Ken Snyder

NPR's Steve Inskeep interviews Wall Street Journal economics editor David Wessel on aspects of the American dream of home ownership that apparently are not working. Not only does Wessel suggest eliminating the tax deduction, but pushes renting too.

June 24 - NPR Morning Edition

Jarett Walker finds out how many people can recognize north in the subway. The survey is used to explain the distinction between narrative and spatial navigation, which appear to be the two predominant forms of human navigation.

June 24 - Human Transit

Joel Epstein at the Jewish Journal argues that Jews should support mass transit measures, and the 30/10 plan in particular. "Without 30/10, I fear my kids may be sitting shiva for me before I ride the Subway to the Sea," he writes.

June 24 - Jewish Journal

Back in February, the Federal Transportation Administration revoked $70m in funding from the proposed BART airport connector over civil rights violations. Streetsblog reports that BART is forging ahead anyway and looking for other funders.

June 24 - Streetsblog

The perils of drinking and driving have been well documented - but what of drinking and riding the subway? While the latter only endangers oneself for the most part, crashes can still happen - in this piece, a $2.3 million award was overturned.

June 24 - The New York Times - N.Y. / Region

The idea was for the homes to be 'mortgage helpers' or cheaper way to house elderly parents. Since the citywide policy was passed last year, 89 laneways have been approved and some are already generating complaints.

June 24 - The Globe and Mail