The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Although the cities of the Roman Empire are typically regarded for their focus on health and hygiene, they may have struggled to manage many poor sanitation parasites.

February 4 - Next City

A large backlash followed a large winter storm on the East Coast.

February 4 - Brokelyn

The Terraces, a mixed-use project in Charlottesville, Virginia, adopts a design that reflects its historic downtown surroundings. Oliver Kuttner, the developer, says that "breaking up" large buildings can make them more palatable on street level.

February 4 - Market Urbanism

It's still a longshot for full-scale production, but a unique research partnership has produced a unique example of biomimicry: a wind turbine that borrows from palm trees to achieve new levels of energy production.

February 4 - ASME

Streetsblog USA notes that the federal government is following the lead of California in awakening to the negative effects of Level of Service.

February 3 - Streetsblog USA

The soul of planning in Los Angeles will be up for vote in the citywide election that will occur on the same day as the U.S. presidential election.

February 3 - California Planning & Development Report

A petition and a lawsuit are so far the tactics used by local advocates to oppose a plan by the Alabama Department of Transportation to widen an interstate that runs through the heart of Birmingham.

February 3 - Over the Mountain Journal

One of the sad contradictions of the revival of core urban areas has been the clash between waves of investment and affluence with large populations of homelessness. Many cities are still coming to terms with the issue, much less solving it.

February 3 - The Wall Street Journal

The video game INFRA trades your typical Russian ultra-nationalists and Nazi zombies for a city on the verge of ruin. The protagonist, an engineer, is tasked with the seemingly mundane tasks that will bring the place back to life.

February 3 - CityLab

The only major candidate, Democrat or Republican, to call for an end to the contentious ethanol mandate won the Republican caucus, clearly beating Donald Trump. That could doom what many even in Iowa, among even some farmers, call a boondoggle.

February 3 - The New York Times - Politics

Lakeview, located north of Lincoln Park and adjacent to Lake Michigan, leads the city by a wide margin in residential teardowns over the past five years. Local developers are selling new homes for four times the original price paid.

February 3 - Crain's Chicago Business

Duncan McLaren and Julian Agyeman launch a withering critique of the sharing economy as we know it, and envision "sharing cities" built around technologies that put community before commerce.

February 3 - The Boston Globe

The U.S. Conference of Mayors recently released the results of the 2015 Menino Survey of Mayors, which finds political support for bike lanes has reached the highest ranks of local government.

February 3 - People for Bikes

The first five kilometers of a bike route that could eventually stretch 100 kilometers opened recently in Germany. An eventual "bike autobahn" could become even more expansive.

February 3 - CityLab

Three D.C. Metro stations will now include grocery delivery. The service could expand, especially if it raises revenues for the cash-strapped transit agency.

February 2 - The Washington Post

Philadelphia magazine says a staffing decision by new Mayor Jim Kenney is a big victory for urbanists and bike advocates.

February 2 - Philadelphia

Developers are predicting that the new $627.5 million arena to house the Detroit Red Wings, paid for with both private and public money, will spur another $596 million of investment in the neighborhood.

February 2 - Detroit Free Press

On the heels of the #NoNewRoads campaign, new Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner gave a "rousing" speech calling for the state of Texas to change its thinking about highway widening projects.

February 2 - Streetsblog USA

A new crop of developers are delivering fine-grained urbanism. Ben Brown checks into their boot camp and provides an update on the movement.

February 2 - PlaceShakers

Portland, Oregon Transportation Director Leah Treat quietly enacted one of the nation's most pro-bike policies last fall.

February 2 - People for Bikes