The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>A recently announced $12.5 billion metropolitan rail system plan for Sydney has many in the region excited about finally getting a good mass transit system. But they are also wary, as many other proposals promising similar services were never kept.</p>

March 24 - The Sydney Morning Herald

<p>If 'superblocks' are so bad, why are we still building more of them?</p>

March 24 - Streetsblog

<p>The editor of <em>Grist</em>'s recent series on the Army Corps of Engineers and the Mississippi River offers some thoughts about the future challenges and issues facing the region.</p>

March 24 - Grist

<p>This report from <em>NPR</em> looks at the efforts of one educator to help rebuild communities in New Orleans by rebuilding the city's charter school system.</p>

March 23 - NPR

<p>Pianos have popped up in random public places in Birmingham, England -- a public art installation that passively invites passersby to take a seat and tickle the ivory.</p>

March 23 - The Guardian

<p>Two ballot measures on the June ballot in California will challenge the state's eminent domain and rent control rules.</p>

March 23 - The San Francisco Chronicle

<p>After years in waiting, two historic Victorian neighborhoods in Brooklyn are finally coming up for historic designation approval.</p>

March 23 - The New York Times

<p>A <em>Los Angeles Times</em> columnist hears about the Los Angeles density controversy and sees its implications during a recent drive around town with County Commissioner Zev Yaroslavsky.</p>

March 23 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>Dysfunctional and wasteful practices have defined the army Corps of Engineers for years. Despite being caught in the act many times, the Corps continues to propose and push forward unnecessary projects, according to this article.</p>

March 22 - Grist

<p>The planning process has taken a little longer than expected for a Chinese investor looking to create Germany's first Chinatown.</p>

March 22 - Der Spiegel

<p>The city of Long Beach, California, has initiated a bike sharing program for city officials. The program consists of 16 shared bikes, usable by city employees for short trips and errands around the city.</p>

March 22 - Press Telegram (Long Beach, CA)

<p>The town of Slough gets no respect, but it's trying.</p>

March 22 - The New York Times

<p>Why Americans don't cycle in the cold and rain, and why they do in Amsterdam.</p>

March 22 - Streetsblog

BLOG POST

We all know there&#39;s a lot of planning going on around the world. Much of it is poor, short-sighted and generally just no good. But there are also some really great ideas being developed and adopted, and they should be considered by cities and communities all over the world as instructive examples of good planning. Here are what I think are some of the best ideas in urban planning from the last week.

March 21 - Nate Berg

<p>In a classic Hollywood showdown that could only happen in California politics, Gov. Schwarzenegger axed actor-director-former Carmel, CA mayor Clint Eastwood from the Parks Commission at the expiration of his term after his 'no-vote' on a toll road.</p>

March 21 - The San Francisco Chronicle

<p>Assuming everything is fine in its long-time relationship with America, the car comes home to an unhappy surprise in this cartoon from <em>Streetsblog</em>.</p>

March 21 - Streetsblog

<p>The mortgage crisis is devastating many communities far from urban centers, while 'inner cities', regionally speaking, are weathering the financial storm far better thanks to their urban form that makes them attractive to those that can afford them.</p>

March 21 - The San Francisco Chronicle

<p>The slowing economy is causing Forest Ratner to re-think buildout plans for their controversial Atlantic Yards development. New York City history tells us it won't be the first time a large scale project goes the way of the economy.</p>

March 21 - The New York Times

<p>A new master plan for Los Angeles's Century City attempts to undo some of the shortcomings that typically plague Modernist master-planned edge cities. Its goals include walkability, greening, and a more appealing public realm.</p>

March 21 - Planning Magazine

<p>The nation's housing downturn has spread to the fastest growing counties in the sunbelt, where most saw reduced domestic migration in the year ending July 1, 2007, while more rural counties experienced population losses.</p>

March 21 - USA Today