The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>Want to be a rebel, a real counter-culturalist? This commentary says it's easy: ride a bike.</p>

July 31 - Globe Gazette

<p>The Bay Area's transportation agency, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, approved a comprehensive plan for regional High Occupancy Toll lanes, mostly from conversions of existing and already-planned carpool lanes, totaling almost 800 miles.</p>

July 31 - The San Francisco Chronicle

<p>Hiking and cycling traffic on the Great Allegheny Passageway has brought jobs and prosperity to small towns along the route.</p>

July 30 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

<p>Last year, Sierra Madre voters passed Measure V, which placed strict limits on the size of downtown developments, effectively killing a specific plan that was in process. Now, the city council is fighting over releasing the plan's unfinished EIR.</p>

July 30 - Pasadena Star-News

<p>Governing Magazine takes a look at the light rail explosion in the Southwest, particularly in Phoenix, where weather is a major factor in ridership.</p>

July 30 - Governing Magazine

<p>Allison Arieff reports on the latest happenings in urban agriculture, including the planting of a full-scale edible landscape in her own backyard.</p>

July 30 - The New York Times

<p>A new study by the University of Utah shows that people who live in walkable neighborhoods are more likely to be leaner than those who live in auto-oriented areas.</p>

July 30 - The Salt Lake Tribune

<p>President George W. Bush signed into law a package of housing legislation intended to ease the burden on thousands of borrowers who face losing their homes. The legislation will also bail out major mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.</p>

July 30 - The New York Times

<p>A public art piece/commentary on alternative transportation, the Pedal Cloud is a Volkswagen chassis with seats for 10 pedalers and one driver. </p>

July 30 - Pedal Cloud

<p>Paul Shigley reflects on the impact of a Starbucks closing in downtown Redding, a small town in northern California.</p>

July 30 - California Planning & Development Report

<p>Its efforts to reduce air pollution in advance of the Olympics failing, Beijing is considering even more draconian measures, including removing up to 90% of cars from the streets.</p>

July 30 - The Globe and Mail

<p>A surge in demand from China and India -- as well as economic troubles domestically -- are leading to an epidemic of infrastructure and scrap theft in Canada.</p>

July 30 - The Globe and Mail

<p>At a time when highway infrastructure is already facing challenges such as the rising costs of concrete and steel, a change in driving habits is causing a major reduction in available funds.</p>

July 29 - The Wall St. Journal

<p>As the worst recycler amongst the 30 largest American cities, Houston has a lot of trash on its hands. But many obstacles stand in the way of the city closing the loop.</p>

July 29 - The New York Times

<p>The Futurama exhibit at the 1939 World's Fair excited an entire generation about suburbia. At a meeting of the Citistates Group, policy wonks wondered whether it's possible to create a new vision of a Carbon-Free Futurama.</p>

July 29 - California Planning & Development Report

<p>New York's DOT is proposing a new plan to transform Astor Place from feeling like a freeway median to a pedestrian-friendly public space.</p>

July 29 - The Villager

<p>Officials in Fort Worth, Texas weigh regulations for natural gas compression stations arising from a boom in drilling shale for natural gas.</p>

July 29 - Fort Worth Star-Telegram

<p>With few local job opportunities, residents in small towns have grown accustomed to long commutes to cities. But with high gas prices making those commutes unaffordable, some economists wonder how much longer small towns can retain their populations.</p>

July 29 - The Kansas City Star

<p>With increasing amounts of data collected and held by governments, there's a lot of opportunity to make use of it for the betterment of communities, according to this column from Neal Peirce.</p>

July 29 - Citiwire

<p>A small town in Germany is demonstrating that a strategy of distributed, renewable and locally-controlled energy production can not only be Earth-friendly but profitable.</p>

July 29 - Victoria Times-Colonist