The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>Resembling a compartment in a first-class airplane cabin more than a standard hotel room, new pod hotels are popping up in major travel centers in Europe and North America, offering mini-rooms that provide travelers with lower-cost lodgings.</p>

May 2 - The National Post

<p>For thousands of years, fountains always featured a water basin. Then landscape architect Peter Walker designed Harvard University's Tanner Fountain, and a revolutionary new idea was born.</p>

May 2 - The Chronicle of Higher Education

<p>New York City's controversial subway map of 1972 is being updated in the current edition of Men's Vogue.</p>

May 2 - The New York Times

<p>Two ballot measures -- one sponsored by property owners, the other by local government groups and businesses -- seek to tighten the rules around eminent domain, and potentially end rent control in the state.</p>

May 2 - San Jose Mercury News

<p>While cities are eager to encourage businesses to go green, many government incentive programs are not designed with small businesses in mind.</p>

May 2 - Globe St.

<p>After declaring the planned Metro extension through Northern Virginia unfit for federal funds, the Federal Transit Administration has given tentative approval for the project, provided local governments contribute additional funding.</p>

May 2 - The Washington Post

<p>Though the state is considered a model for smart planning, Oregon's sprawling landscape shows that the state has much the same problems as the rest of the country.</p>

May 1 - The Oregonian

<p>San Francisco planners unveiled a rezoning proposal that would permit new skyscrapers around the new Transbay terminal, shifting downtown southward around a planned 1,000 foot tower -- which would be the tallest on the West Coast.</p>

May 1 - The San Francisco Chronicle

<p>Seattle's new local food initiative will try to help provide access to health, fresh food in neighborhoods that are a long walk or bus ride from a supermarket.</p>

May 1 - Seattle Post Intelligencer

<p>With gas averaging $3.45 a gallon, the U.S. still only ranks as the 110th most expensive place to buy gas -- out of 155 countries.</p>

May 1 - CNN Money

<p>Smaller, environmentally friendly homes -- ranging from as much as 1000 to as little as 70 square feet -- are a hot trend in modern architecture. Eco-conscious (and wallet-conscious) buyers are increasingly interested in these new "micro mansions".</p>

May 1 - Metropolis Magazine

<p>With Los Angeles now planning to install HOT lanes, a pair of recent articles in the L.A. Times question whether congestion pricing is a way to help the rich at the expense of the poor, or a practical solution to traffic congestion and its ills.</p>

May 1 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>Blueprint Denver, the city's comprehensive plan, calls for preserving single-family neighborhoods. But the recent move by the city council to reduce the allowed density in two communities has some residents and developers unhappy.</p>

May 1 - The Rocky Mountain News

<p>Officials in Youngstown, Ohio, hope to save money and strengthen their community by vacating sparsely populated neighborhoods, but homeowners in the targeted areas are reluctant to leave -- even with the city's $50,000 incentives.</p>

May 1 - CNN Money

<p>In the current issue of Housing Policy Debate, Reid Ewing and Fang Rong argue that sprawling urban form contributes to higher residential energy use. Two responses -- one from Samuel Staley and another by John Randolph -- rebut the paper.</p>

May 1 - Housing Policy Debate

<p>$153 million in congestion reduction funds that had been awarded to New York City will now go to Chicago to apply congestion pricing to street parking spaces. Funds will also go toward developing pilot Bus Rapid Transit routes on dedicated lanes.</p>

May 1 - U.S DOT: Office of Public Affairs

<p>The housing markets most affected by the subprime mortgage fallout are those with the toughest land use regulations, argues Wendell Cox.</p>

May 1 - The Heritage Foundation

<p>New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman holds no punches in expressing his displeasure in the 'gas tax holiday' proposal now that presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has joined presumptive Republican nominee John McCain in endorsing it.</p>

April 30 - The New York Times

<p>Taxpayers typically contribute more than 50 percent of the cost of a new stadium or arena these days, but what are they getting for their money?</p>

April 30 - The American

<p>A new reports says high gas prices have contributed to falling house prices in the nation's suburbs.</p>

April 30 - The Oregonian