The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>When California voters approved the $20 billion transportation bond in Nov., 2006 they supported the expenditure of over $2 billion for 'goods movement' stemming from the state's busy ports. However, some local officials object to rail projects.</p>

February 18 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>Many cities are working toward addressing climate change. Some are establishing task forces to figure out how to prepare for peak oil. Spokane, Washington, is the first city to do both together, with a strategic planning effort launched last week.</p>

February 18 - Post Carbon Cities

<p>California's Central Valley is a distinctive place - a farm belt with many small towns featuring classic downtowns. <em>California Planning &amp; Development Report</em> rates the best of these downtowns.</p>

February 17 - California Planning & Development Report

<p>A look at how the city's sustainability initiative, PlaNYC, is leading to greener streets in more ways than one.</p>

February 17 - Streetsblog

<p>Because many of the homes purchased by real estate speculators over the past few years of the housing bubble were rented out, tenants are now finding themselves subject to eviction as the property owners go into default.</p>

February 17 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>This editorial argues that Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser's plans for a regional light rail system are ambitious and not likely to succeed, but they are a powerful example of the froward-thinking mindset more cities need.</p>

February 17 - The Kansas City Star

<p>This editorial argues that a growth boundary is not the right way to control suburban growth in Salem, Oregon.</p>

February 17 - Statesman Journal

<p>Resort towns in Wyoming are trying to preserve middle class populations and public servants by offering housing subsidies to relatively well-off families.</p>

February 16 - The Boston Globe

<p>Prominent museum heads in the United Kingdom are calling for greater discretion in the commissioning of public art pieces. They say the latest batch of sculptures are "monsters".</p>

February 16 - The Times (London)

<p>Citing safety concerns, a grassroots organizer in Los Angeles is lobbying the city to rethink plans for a light rail line that passes by a school. He says the entire line should be built underground.</p>

February 16 - Los Angeles City Beat

<p>Lawmakers in Indiana have approved an incentive program that seeks to attract filmmakers to the state, a move that overrides a veto by Governor Mitch Daniels.</p>

February 16 - The Indianapolis Star

<p>This slideshow from <em>Popular Science</em> shows case studies of some of the country's greenest cities and how they are achieving environmental sustainability.</p>

February 16 - Popular Science

<p>The Onion reports on the miraculous transformation of a run-down neighborhood in Detroit, thanks to the installation of a towel-sized, $150.00 plot of grass.</p>

February 15 - The Onion

<p>Chicago Mayor Richard Daley has posed a challenge to the city's transit agency to revamp its system to be cleaner and faster, and also to emphasize the creation of retail shops in train stations.</p>

February 15 - The Chicago Tribune

<p>Plans are inching forward to convert two of L.A.'s most-used cross-town corridors into mostly one way streets.</p>

February 15 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>Streetsblog parses the jargon and gives the history behind a recent addition to the transportation lexicon.</p>

February 15 - Streetsblog

<p>Criticism of New Mexico's commuter rail system heats up as officials claim Rail Runner starves other transportation projects of funding.</p>

February 15 - Associated Press

<p>The world's largest marine protected area has just been established around the tiny Pacific island of Kiribati.</p>

February 15 - Reuters

<p><em>Popular Science</em> has released a list of the 50 greenest cities in America.</p>

February 15 - Popular Science

<p>Critics have been swift to point out that the federal government's proposed (and voluntary) "Project Lifeline" does little more than set a "pause button" on at-risk mortgages. What's needed are "Neighborhood Stabilization" plans.</p>

February 15 - Center for American Progress