The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>More and more states are looking to private investors to own and operate their roads and bridges as tollways, but some wonder if the government should really take such a hands-off approach.</p>

October 23 - Time

<p>This article from <em>The New York Times Magazine</em> takes an in-depth look at the water shortages facing the country.</p>

October 23 - The New York Times Magazine

<p>Home builders and city officials are teaming up to offer temporarily free transit services for suburban residents.</p>

October 23 - The Toronto Star

<p>To supplement recently announced plans to install directional decals on the sidewalks outside of subways, <em>The New York Times</em> offers three ideas for improving mobility in the city.</p>

October 23 - The New York Times

BLOG POST

<p><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Verdana">I had the opportunity to spend a day at the <a href="http://www.vacantproperties.org/index.html">Vacant Properties</a> conference late last month which, if you’re not familiar with the “movement,” you should be.<span>  </span>Granted it’s not for everyone.<span>  </span>At the opening plenary session, the moderator asked “who is here from a weak market city?”<span>  </span>A room full of hands went up with a collective giggle.<span>  </span>It felt like an AA meeting for cities.<span>  </span>Admitting you have a problem is the first step toward addressing it.<span>  </span></span><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Verdana"> </span></p>

October 23 - Scott Page

<p>With more and more children living in urban and suburban environments and surrounded by electronic distractions, fewer kids are experiencing nature.</p>

October 23 - The San Francisco Chronicle

<p>The Bison Courtyard development in Banff Alberta is more than a "green" building: its "enlightened merchants" have been encouraged to engage in numerous experiments in eco-economics.</p>

October 23 - The Globe & Mail

<p>The "Neck" area of the Charleston, South Carolina region, connecting the cities of North Charleston and Charleston, holds the potential to become an urban model regarding several issues which are plaguing the metropolitan area.</p>

October 23 - The Post & Courier

<p>Controversial scientist James Lovelock is convinced that current conceptions of "sustainable development" are hopelessly wrongheaded. We're facing a climate catastrophe, he believes, and only radical solutions will be up to the challenge.</p>

October 22 - Rolling Stone Magazine

<p>A home builder points to the "no-growth, anti-housing environmental alliance" that restricts greenfield development as the primary reason the Bay Area is unable to house its growing population.</p>

October 22 - The San Francisco Chronicle

<p>Venetians are divided on the megaproject dubbed "Moses" which is intended to protect the city from rising sea-levels while leaving the city open for shipping.</p>

October 22 - The Globe & Mail

<p>Greek and international protest grows over proposed demolition of historic buildings between Tschumi's Acropolis Museum and the Acropolis hill.</p>

October 22 - INTBAU News

<p>Homebuyers increasingly look to developing downtown San Diego, California, as the site for their second homes.</p>

October 22 - The New York Times

<p>Metropolitan Atlanta could feasibly survive on its own if it were to secede from the state of Georgia, writes Otis White. But as he explains, Atlanta would be much better off as part of the state than as its own, if only there were more cooperation.</p>

October 22 - Creative Loafing

<p>Despite initial studies showing too hefty a price tag, Houston is now on its way to dramatically expanding its light rail transit system.</p>

October 22 - The Houston Chronicle

<p>New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has proposed that struggling communities in upstate New York form a regional cooperative to more effectively develop their economies.</p>

October 22 - Associated Press via Newsday

<p>Despite running a deficit, Cincinnati officials are strongly considering the construction of a streetcar system to spur economic development.</p>

October 22 - The Cincinnati Post

<p>Zalul, an Israeli environmental organization dedicated to preserving the country's marine environments, has released a report harshly critical of municipal sewerage and industrial wastewater practices.</p>

October 22 - Haaretz

BLOG POST

<p>Most people don&#39;t know anything about planning. Sure, they may understand the general gist of it, but many planning concepts just haven&#39;t yet made it into the public consciousness. In an effort to accelerate the education of the public, here&#39;s an easy-to-use pictorial guide that relates some of those not-so-familiar planning concepts to something we&#39;re all familiar with: food.</p>

October 22 - Nate Berg

<p>A $47 billion proposal to add new lanes and build 50 miles of light-rail heads to the ballot box, though some wonder if conventional plan is really money well spent.</p>

October 21 - Christian Madera