The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Despite the $700 billion financial bailout plan, the suburbs will continue to lose population and value, according to Peter Katz. He says it's time for the government to prevent suburban development that is only doomed to fail.

October 12 - Citiwire

With too much focus on "architectural bling" and a hyperactive development pattern, Dubai is in danger of becoming a modern planning disaster, according to architect Thom Mayne.

October 11 - Building Design

Oil, gas and wind man T.Boone Pickens is clearly interjecting himself and his plan into presidential, and vice-presidential politics. Recently, he sat down with Sarah and Todd Palin to promote his plan of using natural gas as a transportation fuel.

October 11 - Boone Blog

The amount of young families squeezing into one-bedroom apartments in New York City is on the rise.

October 11 - The New York Times

The $700 billion bailout bill includes federal tax benefits for people who commute by bike.

October 11 - The San Francisco Chronicle

As new design requirements come in at a late stage, bridge planners in Portland are trying to nail down a design for the new light rail bridge that is affordable, appropriate and beautiful. But the beauty aspect may fall to economics.

October 11 - The Oregonian

A stray cat born and raised at a Japanese train station has been named its official stationmaster -- and become a tourist attraction that's successfully boosted the local economy by more than $10 million.

October 10 - AFP

Park planners from Denmark recently toured some of New York's parks and found much to be jealous of.

October 10 - The New York Times

A battle is brewing in Utah over a Senate bill that banned voters from overturning land use decisions, and the power plant that is the first significant land use to be impacted by the law.

October 10 - The Salt Lake Tribune

A feasibility study released last week shows that a 141 mile transit system could be built on existing right-of-ways in the Triangle for $1 billion, a fraction of the proposed budget for transit in the region through 2035.

October 10 - The News Observer

Writing from the Connected Urban Development conference in Amsterdam, reporter Scott Smith says that "the sustainable future will be a networked future."

October 10 - WorldChanging

As many as 65% of foster care kids in Utah end up homeless and on the streets. A youth commission in Salt Lake County is proposing a new sort of housing project to help young adults as they age out of the foster care system.

October 10 - The Salt Lake Tribune

Professor Richard Morill of the University of Washington maps population growth over the past seven years, which shows a continuing pattern of movement towards large metropolitan regions.

October 10 - newgeography

A new study shows that noise pollution on the streets of San Francisco is putting nearly one in six residents at risk for heart disease, high blood pressure and other stress-related illnesses.

October 10 - The San Francisco Chronicle

Some 12 million households now owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, leading economists to worry that foreclosures will continue to rise.

October 10 - MSNBC

The media's inattention to Hurricane Ike has hidden its devastating impacts on infrastructure and the environment, as well as a poor response on the part of the federal government.

October 10 - Brattleboro Reformer

Around Los Angeles' Skid Row, vertical farms have been installed on walls. Its project leaders note that it not only promotes locally grown foods, but it also beautifies areas that "would otherwise just be concrete and steel."

October 10 - Architectural Record

BLOG POST

<p> <span><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS">One of Vancouver&#39;s most recent significant planning exercises is noteworthy not simply because of the merits of its process or its resulting planning and design vision, but perhaps more so because of the new model it may represent to North American mall owners.</span></span></span><span><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Trebuchet MS"> </span></span> </p> <p> <span><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS">But I&#39;ll come back to that. </span></span></span><span><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Trebuchet MS"> </span></span> </p>

October 9 - Brent Toderian

Spain's booming construction industry was fuelled by immigrant workers, who were encouraged to come to Spain. The economic crisis has now stalled many of those construction projects.

October 9 - Globe and Mail

Media analysts and economists are confused about presidential candidate John McCain's proposed "Homeownership Resurgence Plan," which would see Washington spend up to $300 billion to become a "lender of last resort."

October 9 - Globe and Mail