The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Seattle is in the midst of a mayoral election, and while typical election issues are getting their own share of lip service from the candidates, land use is being overlooked.

September 10 - Crosscut

As cell phones have eliminated the need for phone booths, unused booths could play a key role in Spain's electric car revolution as charging stations.

September 10 - The Guardian

In an otherwise stalled local economy, a few new construction projects are underway in Michigan, thanks to new tax incentives that are drawing the film industry to the state.

September 10 - The New York Times

As the race for high speed rail stimulus dollars gets underway, international firms stand to gain the most benefit as few if any U.S. firms are capable of building the rolling stock the new systems will need.

September 10 - The Wall Street Journal

U.S. Military bases in Iraq are being consolidated, but their footprint is hard to ignore. Many operate much like small cities, housing as many as 20,000 people and all the services and infrastructure they require.

September 10 - The New York Times

Architect Ronald Rael proposes preserving the discarded span of the San Francisco Bay Bridge and turning it into a park and mixed-use development, in the spirit of NY's High Line.

September 10 - Streetsblog SF

In Brighton, Colorado, solar panels on one person's farm could be built by an investment from another local, creating the first solar co-operative in the U.S.

September 10 - The Wall St. Journal

BLOG POST

<p> In my first week here in Beijing, I have spoken to a number of scholars here about climate change.  A few observations; </p> <p>  1.  China&#39;s scholars are thinking about climate change mitigation but I haven&#39;t met many talking about adaptation. </p>

September 10 - Matthew E. Kahn

Bill Fulton visits Portland, and comes back with six practical lessons that other cities can take from the 'planner's nirvana.'

September 9 - California Planning & Development Report

Eleven major cities in the UK, including council leaders representing all three major political parties, have begun a campaign for a high-speed rail network linking them together to serve the entire country.

September 9 - The Guardian

Mohamed Atta, one of the 9/11 terrorists, pursued a masters degree in city planning before the attacks. Slate's Daniel Brooks reads Atta's masters thesis, and finds a strain of anti-Western modernism that is revealing.

September 9 - Slate.com

Citywide metro rail service is set to begin operations today in Dubai. The system will start out with ten operational stations, but eventually include 47 stops along 70 kilometers of track.

September 9 - Business 24/7

As construction on the Second Avenue subway in New York City is set to begin next year, MTA and current residents struggle to answer the question of where to relocate the people in its way.

September 9 - The New York Times

The city of San Francisco has barricaded two new large swatches of land to be used as part of its Pavement to Parks projects, and is enjoying a flood of support from residents, businesses, politicians, and local educational institutions.

September 9 - SF Streetsblog

Formerly thought to be recession-proof, the tourist mecca of Las Vegas is taking a hard hit during the current economic recession.

September 9 - Los Angeles Times

Monopoly: City Streets melds the board game with Google Maps gives you the chance to buy the world's streets and develop your dream project on them (in competition with other players, of course.)

September 9 - The Guardian U.K.

Clark County, WA increased their building permit fees by roughly 300% on July 1st, and are facing criticism from builders whose projects now won't pencil out.

September 9 - The Columbian (WA)

As the push for renewable energy increases, The Nature Conservancy points out that renewables need a lot of land to work and could cause "energy sprawl."

September 9 - Renewable Energy World

Neal Peirce says this is a 'bonanza decade' for parks, thanks to the many benefits of parks to cities and a 'wow' factor found in some of the newest parks around the U.S., including St. Louis' Citygarden and Manhattan's High Line Park.

September 8 - Citiwire.net

For political, technological, and even demographic as well as economic reasons, don't expect American oil consumption to increase over 2007 levels. $3 gas is here to stay, and the days of the petrol-gulping SUVs and guzzlers may be numbered.

September 8 - Barrons