The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

BLOG POST

<!--StartFragment--><p class="MsoNormal">I have to admit, listening to Peter Lovenheim talk about his book “In the Neighborhood, The Search for Community on an American Street, One Sleepover at a Time”, spiked my planner’s radar. In his novel, the journalist, quite intentionally, well, the title is self-explanatory isn’t it? It sounded a bit hokey and contrived at first, as did the interview. Lovenheim explained that the only way to truly get to know someone and develop a real sense of intimacy and bond was to sleep in their home and shadow them for the day. But the real story is about the loss of intimacy and comfort among neighbors.

June 3 - Melissa Hege

Cities around the world are trying to undo decades of car-oriented planning. Lester Brown takes a look at the trend and finds some models for other global cities to follow.

June 3 - Grist

A new video from <em>Urban Omnibus</em> explores life in five New York neighborhoods, delving into the daily interactions between people and the built environment.

June 3 - Urban Omnibus

Haitians displaced from their home by the devastating earthquake in January have set up camp along a highway median.

June 3 - NPR

Although overall household driving is down, the number of miles families log for shopping continues to climb, according to new federal data.

June 3 - New Rules Project

Cisco is contributing technology to Songdo City in South Korea, a brand new and complete city for a million people. China plans to build hundreds of these "cities-in-a-box" as a massive rural-to-urban migration occurs there.

June 3 - San Jose Mercury News

After backing down on a campaign promise to remove a U.S. military installation from the prefecture of Okinawa, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has been forced to resign.

June 3 - The New York Times

<em>National Journal</em> asks its panel of transportation experts whether mass transit agencies really deserve $2 billion in emergency operating aid.

June 3 - National Journal

San Francisco's transportation agency has proposed the installation of parking meters in a handful of neighborhoods that dynamically change their prices according to the time of day and the related demand.

June 3 - San Francisco Examiner

<em>Greater Greater Washington</em>'s Daniel Nairn wanted a planning-related poster for his wall. So he created one (admittedly nerdy) poster comparing the various grids of American cities.

June 3 - Greater Greater Washington

FEATURE

Maureen McAvey, Executive Vice President with the Urban Land Institute, spoke recently to a congressional committee on the growing problem of federal buildings that are designed with myopic attention to security and ignore urban growth strategies.

June 3 - Maureen McAvey

A pedestrian in Park City, UT followed her downloaded Google map onto a four-lane road sans sidewalks. She was hit by a motorist before reaching the median. Lauren Rosenberg is seeking $100,000 in a federal lawsuit.

June 2 - The Guardian

At the Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control center (ATSAC) near City Hall in Los Angeles, a team of engineers watches traffic flow all over the city, sucking in tons of data to improve transit and automotive circulation.

June 2 - GOOD Magazine

Manhattanites are no stranger to 350 sq ft apartments, but Southern Californians? Tiny apartments in Santa Monica are popular, increasing access to amenities in a very expensive market.

June 2 - Kansas City Star

Can health care costs be factored into transportation investments? Should they? The American Public Health Association says an emphatic 'yes' to both. Results are reported in a 12-page report that includes cost savings from walkable urban design.

June 2 - Grist

A group of planners and designers recently headed out to audit Petrossian Square in Manhattan, carefully observing how people use the space.

June 2 - Planning Commissioners Journal

BLOG POST

<p> In a <a href="/node/44089">recent Planetizen post</a> I argued that the unfolding oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico may be perhaps our last warning to move more aggressively on renewable energy and a less energy-dependent built environment. What follows is an effort to outline additional implications for planning, to gain an understanding of the scale of this emergency and how it may impact planning in the months and years to come. Ecologically, economically and socially this is going to be like nothing we’ve ever seen before.  </p>

June 2 - Michael Dudley

Landowners in Gunnison, Colorado are claiming that rafters passing through on the banks of the Gunnison River are trespassing. Do property rights extend into the water?

June 2 - On The Commons

Famed architect Leon Krier says that "metropolitan development is a mistake and is unsustainable," calling for a more polycentric approach.

June 2 - The Urban Vision

In the capital city of Astana, temperatures can drop to -40F. Kazakhstan's president Nursultan Nazarbayev says the city is fighting the cold by building an entirely indoor city, under a dome 2 kilometers across.

June 2 - The Telegraph