The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Faced with a significant decline in tourism, Rome's mayor dreams of building a theme park right next to the real thing depicting life in ancient Rome.

August 18 - Telegraph U.K.

BLOG POST

<p class="MsoNormal"> In a much discussed speech, ‘<a href="http://www.wecansolveit.org/pages/al_gore_a_generational_challenge_to_repower_america/">A Generational Challenge to Repower America</a>,’ Al Gore challenged America to hit the off-switch on foreign oil and re-power itself with home-grown carbon-free energy– namely wind, solar and geothermal. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> The predicted outcome Gore said would be a bold, energy independent nation ready to lead the world into the 21^st century. However, such an effort, he asserted, would require “commitment to changing not just light bulbs, but laws. And Laws will only change with leadership.” <span> </span><span> </span> </p>

August 17 - Mike Lydon

While the mortgage crisis has hit hard in California and other prosperous regions, the cities that are sliding fastest into decline are still in the Rust Belt, with disappearing populations and bleak job prospects.

August 17 - Forbes

In this segment from <em>NPR</em>, a Dallas residential realtor talks about how his city -- where the average price has actually gone up about 2% over the last year -- has bucked the national downward housing trend.

August 17 - NPR

Growing rapidly and becoming an ever more expensive place to live, Calgary -- Alberta's oilpatch city -- is in danger of "losing its heart" writes Peter Menzies.

August 17 - The Globe and Mail

Ohio's seeing streetcars, with new systems planned for Columbus and Cincinnati.

August 17 - The New York Times

That mainstay of adolescence -- achieving car ownership and going cruising -- may be on its way out.

August 17 - The Globe and Mail

A new district rises on the decommissioned Ypenburg Nato airfield in the Netherlands. Master planners Rapp & Rapp worked with other architects and developers to create a cohesive whole with slight variations, a “conditioning of difference."

August 16 - bd

A moratorium on new fast food restaurants in Los Angeles is seen as a way to encourage better public health, but also a way to encourage healthier businesses.

August 16 - The New York Times

AARP finds that 29% of older Americans polled say they are now walking as a way to avoid high gas prices, but 40% say the sidewalks in their area are inadequate.

August 16 - Market Watch - Also Associated Press story

Planners are celebrating Columbus's century-old comprehensive plan, and continuing to consult the plan for guidance.

August 16 - The Columbus Dispatch

Washington D.C.'s bike sharing system has debuted, with 120 bikes at 10 stations.

August 16 - The Washington Post

An obviously Photoshopped cluster of trees appears in the Netherlands. What is someone hiding, and how are they hacking Google Earth?

August 15 - Boing Boing

Google Streetview is slowly taking pictures of every street in the world, and capturing unexpected vignettes along the way like an Australian man passed out on his front lawn.

August 15 - Gawker

Next American City reviews a new book called <em>Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What it Says about Us)</em> by journalist Tom Vanderbilt, which follows in the footsteps of <em>Freakonomics</em> and <em>Blink</em>.

August 15 - The Next American City

The city of Austin considers a multi-billion dollar investment in a "biomass" power plant, burning wood waste in East Texas as a carbon-neutral, renewable energy source.

August 15 - Austin American-Statesman

Boise considers resurrecting their streetcar system after an 80 year absence.

August 15 - The Boise Weekly

With heating oil expected to be 36% more expensive, natural gas twice that amount, and LIHEAP funding lower than it was in the 1980s, there are grave warnings that the northeastern U.S. could be facing a "frozen Katrina" this winter.

August 15 - The Nation

In British Columbia, a proposal to require all new buildings to be carbon-neutral is being considered. The rule would require that buildings have no carbon footprint by 2020.

August 15 - The Globe and Mail

Allan Murray's architectural vision is habing a signficant influence on the future of development in Edinburgh. This column from <em>The Times</em> wonders if putting the future of a city in one man's hands is such a good idea.

August 15 - The Times