The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

The French architect will be awarded the Pritzker Prize Monday -- the top prize in the field of architecture.

March 30 - The New York Times

<p>This article from <em>Metropolis Magazine</em> features a tour of Beijing as it prepares for the Summer Olympics. The scale of development is almost overwhelming, according to author Philip Nobel.</p>

March 30 - Metropolis Magazine

<p>The greater Toledo area needs to think harder about creating regional development if it wants to compete in the globalizing economy, according to this editorial.</p>

March 30 - The Toledo Free Press

<p>This editorial calls on the state of New Jersey to take advantage of the fact that it has one of the country's largest mass transit network and to better site homes and development near transit.</p>

March 30 - The Times (New Jersey)

The city of Los Angeles is currently sitting on more than $130 million dollars intended to build parks. But those funds are tied to council districts high in development, leaving districts with little development high and dry.

March 30 - LA Weekly

<p>A proposed public art piece featuring a bronze statue of the "Happy Days" character Arthur "the Fonz" Fonzarelli has many up in arms about the process creating and approving public art.</p>

March 29 - The Next American City

<p>Sixteen percent of all American moving between July 2006 and July 2007 headed to Texas according to Census data released March 27. Four Texas regions were among the top ten destinations, mostly in the South and West.</p>

March 29 - Associated Press via San Francisco Chronicle

<p>While housing markets in the rest of the country reel from the mortgage crisis, Irvine, the city that was once home to 18 subprime lenders, is seeing its local economy suffer as the effects of high profile bankruptcies ripples to other businesses.</p>

March 29 - CNN Money

<p><em>Architect Magazine</em> talks with San Francisco's new planning director, John Rahaim, about the urban planning challenges and issues in the city.</p>

March 29 - Architect Magazine

<p>Is CO2 buildup responsible for the enormous hurricane damage, or is it overdevelopment? Should we be spending so much attempting to reduce carbon emissions, or could it be better spent reducing problems that will be exacerbated by global warming?</p>

March 29 - The Los Angeles Times

BLOG POST

<p class="MsoNormal"> Every person is unique. Every day is unique. Every trip is unique. As a result, an efficient and equitable transportation system must be <a href="http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm65.htm">diverse</a>, so people can choose the best option for each trip. For example, today you might prefer to walk or bicycle, but tomorrow find it best to use public transit or drive. </p>

March 28 - Todd Litman

This <em>Onion TV news segment highlights Chinese pride in the country's status as the world's top producer of air pollution.

March 28 - The Onion

<p>In this piece from <em>The New York Times</em> criticizes plans for a railyard redevelopment in Manhattan as overblown and lacking architectural ambition.</p>

March 28 - The New York Times

<p>Twenty years ago, Los Angeles voters chose Tom Bradley's "world city" vision over a slow-growth councilman's carping about overdevelopment. Voters may face the same choice - and one of the same candidates - in 2009.</p>

March 28 - California Planning & Development Report

<p>A groundbreaking deal recognizing the economic value of intact forests will not only preserve a million acres of rainforest in Guyana but establish a precedent for future such arrangements.</p>

March 28 - The Independent (UK)

BLOG POST

<p> The federal law setting nation transportation funding and policy, SAFETEA-LU, is set to expire on September 30, 2009. The huge bill has regulated everything from the New Starts transit program to thousands of pork-barrel transportation projects around the country. With unprecedented concern over global warming, a new president in November, and popular frustration with congestion on both transit and highways, there may be the opportunity for a major revision in federal policy. In this post I review some of the debate so far, and outline the proposals recently released by an independent commission. </p>

March 28 - Robert Goodspeed

<p>Officials in the California city of Sebastopol have gone back on an agreement with an Internet provider that was planning to create a municipal Wi-Fi network for the city. They cited health concerns in their decision.</p>

March 28 - The Press Democrat

A new zoning requirement passed by the New York City Planning Commission will require all new developments to plant trees along the street.

March 28 - The New York Times

<p>A new report from the U.S. Census shows that the Sunbelt continues to lead the nation in population growth, with Dallas-Fort Worth showing the greatest gains.</p>

March 28 - CNN Money

<p>Atlanta's ambitious plans for inner-city rail were downsized, as New Urbanist Andres Duany criticized the City's implementation of his vision for streetcars in Midtown Atlanta.</p>

March 28 - Atlanta Journal Constitution