The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Airlines Desert Small Towns, Despite Costly Investments in Infrastructure
<p>If you build it, will they come? Not in Hagerstown, Maryland, where airlines have left town despite a brand new runway.</p>
Is New Urbanism A 'Last Gasp' Attempt to Reform Suburbanism?
<p>Plans to bring New Urbanist designs into British Columbia will do little to stem suburban sprawl, according to this column from the <em>Globe and Mail</em>.</p>
The Sprawling Megapolitan Region of Utah
<p>Sprawl is consuming small towns in Utah, and creating one of the largest megapolitan regions in the U.S.</p>
A City Devoid Of Billboards
<p>Under a bold plan from the city's Mayor, the 11 million residents of Sao Paulo, Brazil, are enjoying a city free from outdoor advertising.</p>
Planning For The End Of The Cul-de-sac
<p>With Cul-de-sac restrictions catching on in the South, one Arkansas town is beginning to make plans to create complete, compact and connected neighborhoods.</p>
Engaging The Public In Land Use Decisions
<p>A committee in Baltimore charged with the task of encouraging more public involvement in land use decisions is learning how difficult that can be as it faces criticism that its own meetings didn't get enough participation from residents.</p>
YouTube Exposing Cities' Traffic Problems
<p>The video website YouTube is home to a growing number of clips that document traffic conditions in cities around the world.</p>
Pennsylvania Leases Turnpike To Private Consortium For $12.8 Billion
<p>Though the deal still needs approval from the Pennsylvania legislature, the state hopes to generate over $1 billion a year for road, bridge and transit improvements from the proceeds.</p>
Developer To SF: Let's Make A Deal On Affordable Housing
<p>Hoping to head off a competing ballot measure, Miami-based developer Lennar Corp. has voluntarily agreed to set aside 3,200 of the planned 10,000 homes on San Francisco's Hunters and Candlestick Point for low- and moderate-income families.</p>
Making Amtrak A National Priority
<p>With ridership up nationwide, the next president should start getting serious about investing in passenger rail service, argues a recent column.</p>
Jumping On The Jitney
<p>Rising gasoline prices are breathing new life into the Miami's niche jitney service.</p>
Capitalism Sprawls Into Russia's Frozen Expanse
<p>American-style malls are cropping up in Siberia, and gobbling up land, to enable once-isolated Russians to consume in ways that might have been unimaginable a generation ago.</p>
BLOG POST
The Public Mis-Education of Transit Oriented Development
<p> In 2004, voters in Denver approved the FasTracks ballot to build a regional rapid transit system. Now that planning is underway to construct about 120 miles of new rail and 60 new train stations, planners are beginning to focus on transit-oriented development (TOD) around many of these new stations. While much excitment exists in Denver for creating one of the top 21st century cities, some fears for TOD are unfounded. Mr. Ferguson's "<a href="http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/may/13/four-fallacies-transit-oriented-development/" target="_blank" title="Rocky Mountain News article">Four Fallacies of 'transit-oriented development</a>'", published May 13, 2008 in the <em>Rocky Mountain News</em> is typical of a common mis-education about TOD. What Mr. Ferguson does not realize is that TODs can help protect the rural and suburban nature of communities surrounding Denver. He proposes four tenets about why TODs are bad for the future. Below, I address each of these.
The New Milwaukeeans: Making Sense of Population Growth In The Cream City
<p>After forty years in the statistical doldrums, what does Milwaukee make of a sudden, slight increase in population? Local expert and urban enthusiast Dave Steele reports.</p>
Back in the (Bike) Saddle Again?
<p>While Americans have not turned to the bicycle as a mode of transportation in the same numbers seen elsewhere in the world, some predict that soaring gas prices and increased infrastructure investments could change that.</p>
More Cities Face Naturally Decreasing Population
<p>More people die than are born in Pittsburgh every year -- seriously impacting the city's schools, laborforce and healthcare infrastructure. Other American cities will soon follow, say demographers.</p>
Living Well In The Era Of High Gas Prices
<p>Want to learn how Americans can maintain a high standard of living in an era of sky-high gas prices? Just look at Europeans, who've been going it for decades, argues economist Paul Krugman.</p>
Trading Planning Tips With Shanghai
<p>While the city's regional approach is the envy of many American planners, Shanghai is also guilty of top-down planning that may end up encouraging sprawl.</p>
Did Smart Growth Policies Save Oregon's Housing Market?
<p>Oregon's housing market has faired far better than other areas of the country, with some experts agreeing that the state's more restrictive land-use policies helped to prevent an oversupply of homes during the free-wheeling mortgage years.</p>
Cars Don't Cause Traffic, Drivers Do
<p>Some planners hope that driverless car technology can finally put an end to traffic jams.</p>
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