The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>Two major projects -- the extension of a streetcar line and the construction of a hotel -- are under consideration in Portland, Oregon, but some local officials are hesitant to support what could dramatically change the character of the city.</p>

August 18 - The Portland Tribune

<p>City officials in Beijing have begun a four-day effort to limit the amount of cars filling the city's streets, and many are calling the effort a successful model to use during next year's Olympics.</p>

August 18 - BBC

<p>This slideshow from <em>The Globe &amp; Mail</em> shows some of the best and most outrageous roadside attractions from across Canada.</p>

August 18 - The Globe & Mail

<p>Aging gerbils unable to generate electricity and ancient curses add to America's infrastructure woes, according to the Onion.</p>

August 17 - The Onion

<p>A 1,400-unit condo project in Irvine demonstrates Orange County's newfound urban qualities, as well as its reluctance to shake suburban design values, according to Bill Fulton, who recently visited the construction site.</p>

August 17 - California Planning & Development Report

<p>Seattle finds out that closing their major highway doesn't result in traffic chaos. Maybe closing another one - the Alaskan Way Viaduct - permanently, as some citizens would like to see, is more feasible that some would have us believe.</p>

August 17 - The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

<p>With desertification threatening thousands of acres of land, Chinese officials have announced the forced relocation of more than 10,000 people.</p>

August 17 - The Christian Science Monitor

<p>Citizens and homeowners in Washington have teamed up against a number of proposed housing developments that would replace more than 100 acres of open space and wetlands.</p>

August 17 - The Columbian

<p>Despite the federal government's recently-awarded grants to support toll roads and other measures to reduce traffic congestion, many subsidies still exist that encourage car use.</p>

August 17 - The New York Times

<p>Builders' groups and developers are upset over a proposal in Houston that would require them to include park space in any developments of 100 units or more. They say the requirement will stifle development.</p>

August 17 - The Houston Chronicle

<p>An unintended effect of Measure 37 -- Oregon's controversial 2004 land use law -- is that homeowners are allowed to build giant billboards on their property. Some have, and local officials are hoping a new ballot measure will address the issue.</p>

August 17 - The Oregonian

<p>The homeless population of a government-sanctioned tent city has slowly dwindled to less than half its original size as officials in the Canadian city of Edmonton move forward with plans to close the impromptu squatter settlement.</p>

August 17 - CBC

<p>Improvements in public services and rising wages are fostering the creation of a prosperous middle class in many Latin American countries.</p>

August 17 - The Economist

<p>The owner of a historic 18th Century home near Boston is looking to preserve the building and give it a new life as a donut shop.</p>

August 16 - The Boston Globe

<p><em>National Geographic Adventure</em> has released a guide to the best adventure towns in the U.S. Their lists include the best small towns, cities, mountain towns, coastal towns, and others.</p>

August 16 - National Geographic Adventure

<p>Medellín, Colombia, has escaped from the bloody grips of the violent drug warfare that consumed its streets in the 1980s to become a vibrant and active city.</p>

August 16 - International Herald Tribune

<p>Thanks to recently acquired federal funding, commuter lanes along Miami's Interstate 95 will soon be replaced by toll lanes.</p>

August 16 - The Miami Herald

<p>The bridge collapse that killed at least 36 people this week in China is being blamed on rushed construction and the larger issue of the country's emphasis on rapid economic growth.</p>

August 16 - International Herald Tribune

<p>A group of concerned, beer-drinking citizens is issuing a warning that more than 50 pubs are closing every month in England due to a planning loophole that makes it easy for owners to convert their bars into more profitable housing developments.</p>

August 16 - BBC

<p>The Bay Area received $158 million from a federal congestion pricing program for improvements to traffic, transit, and parking, but it is conditional upon San Francisco and California legislative approval for the controversial tolls on Doyle Drive.</p>

August 16 - San Francisco Examiner