The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>A dispute over two possible routes for California's high-speed rail line has elevated to members of Congress formally opposing federal funding for a route that does not include their districts.</p>

November 14 - San Jose Mercury News

<p>Residents are overwhelmingly in favor of extending a rail link that would connect the Washington D.C. region directly to Dulles International Airport, according to a recent survey.</p>

November 14 - The Connection Newspapers

<p>A planning expert in Wales is warning that many cities are endanger of pushing families out to the suburbs by focusing solely on high-density development.</p>

November 14 - BBC News

<p>While hard-working families with children often head out to the suburbs for an affordable home, the hidden toll is the long commutes by car -- and its frequently women who bear the brunt of the costs.</p>

November 13 - The Huffington Post

<p>The fate of Developer Richard Rich's vision for 240 acres of downtown Sacramento will be decided by the city's planning commission upcoming vote.</p>

November 13 - The Sacramento Bee

<p>A new documentary portrays a grim new reality: veterans make up 25% of the homeless population in America -- a percentage which is expected to rise.</p>

November 13 - AlterNet

<p>Philadelphia's new waterfront plan should lead the charge to take back the planning process from the city's real estate interests, argues one citizen activist.</p>

November 13 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

<p>The gentrification of Brooklyn's Red Hook neighborhood was supposed to be inevitable, yet recently, the area has lost its sheen. Has New York's gentrification wave found its highpoint?</p>

November 13 - New York Magazine

Officials in Paris plan to unveil sketches of high-rise developments proposed for the outer rings of the city -- a development type nearly two-thirds of Parisians oppose. Many argue that the aesthetic focus shortchanges social concerns in the city.

November 13 - The Guardian

<p>City officials in Tucson, Arizona, have called off plans to implement a citywide Wi-Fi system, opting instead to build access points only in those parts of the well-connected city where rates of access to the internet are low.</p>

November 13 - Arizona Daily Star

<p>Two years after service was halted by Hurricane Katrina, the St. Charles Avenue streetcar is rolling once again in New Orleans, acting as a bellwether of recovery for many local residents and business people.</p>

November 13 - USA Today

<p>A proposed plan in Portland, Oregon would force builders and developers who only meet minimum energy efficiency standards in new projects to pay a fee, while projects that exceed standards would receive cash awards.</p>

November 13 - The Oregonian

<p>Sounding eerily similar to his London counterpart, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg called on the federal government to adopt a national carbon tax. Bloomberg is currently pushing congestion pricing similar to London's program implemented in 2003.</p>

November 13 - Reuters

BLOG POST

<p><img src="/files/u4/xo.png" alt="XO-1 computer" title="XO-1 computer" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="252" height="242" align="right" />Here at Planetizen and Urban Insight, many of our efforts to serve the planning community take place on Windows and Mac computers that would, much like your own computers at your home and office (or even your sparkly new iPhone), dwarf even the most powerful machines of a generation ago. We use these computers to build websites, create maps, share data, <a href="http://www.urbaninsight.com/virtual/2ndlife0307.html">explore 3D environments</a>, design, organize databases, and lots of other tasks that can bring new worlds to life without shoveling an ounce of dirt.</p>

November 12 - Chris Steins

<p>Flint, Michigan has adopted a new strategy to deal with shrinkage and blight: tear down abandoned properties and sell the plots to nearby neighbors for a dollar.</p>

November 12 - NPR

<p>Rising home prices and cost of living are steering more Australians away from Sydney and towards Melbourne, creating a boom in population that has put the city on track to become the country's biggest city.</p>

November 12 - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

<p>This blog post from <em>LAist</em> bemoans the rampant development of West Hollywood and outlines "Ten Reasons to be Pissed at the WeHo City Planners".</p>

November 12 - LAist

<p>Deciding when aging and decaying buildings in history-rich Washington D.C. merit preservation raises many questions.</p>

November 12 - The Washington Post

<p>New development in Southern California's wildfire zones are required to provide safety features such as special landscaping and fireproof materials. Critics say cost to society is high.</p>

November 12 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>MIT researchers are developing a car folds and stacks. It does not have gears, engine, or a transmission. And eight cars can be parked in one typical parking space.</p>

November 12 - Network World