The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Desperate to sell dilapidated, foreclosed homes, as well as to lure in local governments willing to build affordable housing, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is offering those properties for just a dollar.

November 7 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Joel Kotkin believes that the Obama victory is a sign that the 'creative class' - as detailed by Richard Florida - is coming into power, and that traditional business will be pushed aside.

November 7 - New Geography

Warren Buffett, Google and others are investing heavily in geothermal energy development, spurred on by state incentives for renewables and higher gas prices.

November 7 - The Los Angeles Times

David Morris of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and Maude Barlow, Chair of the Board of Food and Water Watch lay out key priorities for an Obama Administration in terms of transportation and water policy.

November 7 - AlterNet

BLOG POST

I&#39;m in philadelphia for a few days to attend the symposium &quot;<a href="http://www.upenn.edu/penniur/afteroil/" target="_blank" title="Penn Design After Oil Conference">Re-Imagining Cities: Urban Design After the Age of Oil</a>&quot;. Along with a crew of notable writers and bloggers, I&#39;ll be writing live blog posts about the conference, all of which will be posted on the <a href="http://americancity.org/afteroil/" target="_blank" title="Next American City Design After Oil Symposium Live Blog">website of Next American City magazine</a>. Tune in to their site to follow along.<br /> <br /> This symposium has drawn hundreds of participants from around the globe to discuss the changes facing cities and communities as climate changes and resources diminish. <br />

November 7 - Nate Berg

The City of Minneapolis is considering a plan to convert a 55-acre site containing an impound lot into a mixed-use office and residential project.

November 7 - Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune

An organism discovered in the Patagonian rainforest produces a mixture of chemicals similar to diesel.

November 7 - Guardian.co.uk

BLOG POST

<p> Last week, voters in San Francisco voted against a measure to compel the city to set aside $30 million for affordable housing. Opponents of the proposal argued that &quot;the city already has spent more than $200 million on affordable housing in the past several years, and is building more units - some affordable, some not - than anytime in recent history.&quot; (1) San Francisco is not alone; government at all levels seeks to provide housing assistance for the poor.  </p> <p> But at the same time, government zones and rezones property to protect &quot;property values&quot; (2) - in other words, to cause home prices to increase over time rather than decrease. So government makes housing expensive with one arm while trying to provide affordable housing with the other. </p>

November 6 - Michael Lewyn

As part of a series in <em>Harper's</em> on how to save capitalism, James K. Galbraith argues that America can fix many of its economic troubles with better planning -- urban planning, infrastructure planning, and financial planning.

November 6 - Harper's

Los Angeles County voters narrowly approved Measure R, a half-cent sales tax measure, by 67.4% (2/3 was necessary) to fund rail and road projects, including the Subway to the Sea. The victory is seen as a huge coup for LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

November 6 - Los Angeles Times

On Monday, Gothamist revealed the winners of a contest to redesign the traffic-clogged intersection of 4th Avenue and 9th Street in Brooklyn.

November 6 - Gothamist.com

The American Society of Landscape Architects has released a study revealing that while most adults practice energy-efficient strategies at home, they are considerably less green in their yards and lawns.

November 6 - Land Online

Measure B would have allotted $30 million to lower-income residents who currently can't afford to live in San Francisco.

November 6 - The San Francisco Chronicle

Some residents living too close to wind turbines are feeling the negative effects of the noise they produce: nausea, headaches, and vertigo, to name a few.

November 6 - USA Today

It's time for Seattle to take a few chances with its architecture, according to the author of this article.

November 6 - Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The Erie Canal has been long forgotten as a passage for transportation, but the affordability of shipping goods by canal barge is making it a more attarctive option than doing so by trucking.

November 6 - The New York Times

Editorial: Long Island is one of the nation's most affluent suburbs. With very high housing values and located by NYC, it would be not expected to be hit hard by the subprime crisis. But it has - and its roots lie in its racially segregated past.

November 6 - The New York Times

The manufacturing town of Zaragoza, Spain is beginning to feel the crunch of the global economic slowdown, as a General Motors plant goes on a temporary hiatus.

November 6 - The New York Times

Stadium construction in New York that was intended to have only a small cost to taxpayers has turned out to be a major investment and allocation of tax breaks, causing many to question whether the economic benefits of rebuilding will ever be seen.

November 6 - The New York Times

BLOG POST

<p class="MsoNormal"> The United States has been reborn.<span> </span>The election of Barack Obama has put – or reintroduced – the United States to the world stage as a beacon of hope for all people.<span> </span>We have proven that we believe and embody the ideals of equality and equal opportunity and that these ideals are the right of every citizen and not just a few.<span> </span>More importantly, this election is a ray of hope for our nation.<span> </span>We advanced the fight against racism to elect the first black president of the United States.<span> </span>Barack Obama’s election also gives hope to Americans as we witness and feel the stinging affects of the economic and housing crises, the energy crisis and two wars. </p>

November 5 - Tamika Camille Gauvin