The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

BLOG POST

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">My Toyota Prius just turned 100,000. That’s quite a milestone for a car and it may be a harbinger of things to come. Many planners are betting so-called “peak oil” will undermine our car culture because we won’t have the fuel to feed them. The history of my Prius suggests otherwise. </font></p>

September 5 - Samuel Staley

<p>A roller coaster has opened up right next door to a family's summer home in the Houston suburb of Kemah -- a town with no zoning ordinance.</p>

September 5 - KLTV

<p>A high speed train has debuted on a line between London and Paris, making the 213-mile trip in a little over two hours.</p>

September 5 - ABC

<p>A U.S. Senator from Texas has vowed to oppose a state-supported plan to convert existing interstate highways into tollraods.</p>

September 5 - The Houston Chronicle

<p>Planners didn't think it would happen for 10 years, but transit-oriented development looks to be brewing near new light rail stations in Charlotte, North Carolina.</p>

September 5 - Charlotte Business Journal

<p>As part of a city-wide effort to reduce carbon emissions, New York is pursuing a plan to expand its bicycle network by adding more than 200 miles of bike lanes to the city by 2010. But some neighbors are opposed to the loss of street space.</p>

September 4 - The New York Times

<p>A Massachusetts smart growth incentive has enabled a Boston suburb to change its zoning laws to allow developers to build mixed-use developments without applying for special permits. Now other towns want in, but there might not be enough funding.</p>

September 4 - The Boston Globe

<p>In this article from <em>The Toronto Star</em>, Wendell Cox looks at the "draconian" land use restrictions that have been imposed by planners in Toronto, and how despite planners bemoaning auto-dependency, no one has offered a viable transit plan.</p>

September 4 - The Toronto Star

BLOG POST

<p>This Labor Day weekend, Southern California is facing an extreme heat wave, with temperatures soaring well above 100 degrees. Air conditioners have to work overtime to keep indoor temperatures near 80, and California power resources are operating at near capacity. As condominiums bake in the sun (as they do most of the year around here), there is not a solar panel in sight. <br /><br />While we are still waiting for renewable energy, a few simple measures could lead to big residential power savings. Enter the laundry line, one of the oldest and most practical ways to use solar energy. Electric clothes dryers not only require vast amounts of fossil fuel-derived power, they also pour heat into living spaces and strain cooling systems. <br />

September 4 - Diana DeRubertis

<p>Is the idea of buying "voluntary carbon offsets" to become carbon neutral more hype than solution?</p>

September 4 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>Many states are choosing native plants for the 12 million acres of roadsides and median strips around the country to save on maintenance costs and provide wildlife habitat. Polls show the public prefers the appearance of non-native species.</p>

September 4 - The New York Times

<p>In a bid to revive the city's downtown and riverfront, some St. Louis officials want to reclaim some of the 91 pastoral acres now dedicated for the Gateway Arch National Park.</p>

September 4 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

<p>City planners -- hoping to get reluctant Angelenos out of their cars -- have put forth a proposal that would waive all parking requirements for developers whose buildings offered suitable transportation alternatives.</p>

September 4 - LA Weekly

<p>Though former Governor Perris Glendening lead the charge for smart growth in Maryland, its hard to tell if the state's policies have curbed sprawl significantly.</p>

September 4 - The Hartford Courant

<p>Transit officials in Texas are looking to convince Congress to let the state buy back sections of interstate highway for conversion into revenue-generating toll roads.</p>

September 4 - The Hartford Courant

<p>Same cuts of transportation spending, different voter-approved initiative. State Senator Alan Lowenthal surveys California's transportation challenges amid a budget impasse and questions about bridge safety.</p>

September 4 - The Planning Report

<p>Transit advocates in Baltimore are calling on regional officials to throw out an $8.7 billion traffic congestion plan because it relies too heavily on highway projects and not enough on transit options.</p>

September 3 - The Baltimore Sun

<p>Street vendors in Berkeley are voicing complaints that a new rapid bus line is passing by too quickly, stirring up dust along the sidewalk that covers them and their merchandise.</p>

September 3 - The Oakland Tribune

<p>Housing advocates, public officials, and urban planners have joined forces in Rhode Island with a pledge of $10 million to support the preservation of open space by building more dense, mixed-use communities.</p>

September 3 - The Providence Journal

<p>This column from the <em>Globe &amp; Mail</em> looks at the scourge of oceanside development in British Columbia and cites a successful example of high-density waterfront development as a model for future growth along the sea.</p>

September 3 - The Globe & Mail