The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>A State legislature is proposing a bill that would essentially gut Austin's recently passed 'McMansion' ordinance.</p>

March 1 - Austin American Statesman

<p>Sarasota County, Florida, is looking to gain greater control over planning from cities in an upcoming vote. This move is in response to a recent report that outlines how city planning in the county has encouraged sprawl over the last 50 years.</p>

March 1 - Charlotte Sun-Herald

<p>A new toolkit demonstrates how the challenges of the nation's aging population can help create sustainable communities that benefit everyone.</p>

March 1 - World Watch Institute

<p>Plans have been proposed to expand downtown Boston's pedestrian-only shopping district with the hopes of improving the area's economic viability. Despite high pedestrian traffic, the shopping center has not been as successful as others in the city.</p>

March 1 - The Boston Globe

<p>As Southern California's population grows -- and taxes its famously scarce water supply -- the Inland Empire Utilities Agency is applying the tenets of smart growth to its efforts to recycle, reuse, and conserve water.</p>

March 1 - The Metro Investment Report

BLOG POST

<p class="MsoNormal">The impact of the urban grocery store gap, particularly on low-income communities, has been well documented. The presence of full-service grocery store can raise the economic value of surrounding property, serve as an anchor in commercial districts, provide an important source of jobs, and lower the daily cost of living for residents.<span> </span>In an era of skyrocketing obesity rates, public health research shows a strong correlation between the presence of a grocery store and the consumption of fruits and vegetables.<span> </span></p>

February 28 - Lisa Feldstein

<p>The latest benchmark from SustainLane tracks which American cities are the best incubators for clean technology companies.</p>

February 28 - SustainLane

The city's planning commission wants to use "incentive zoning" to encourage the development of taller buildings and generate revenue for the city's affordable housing fund.

February 28 - The Seattle Times

<p>Plans by the developers of Vermillion, a 400 acre New Urbanist community outside Charlotte, call for the addition of hundreds of 4,000 square foot homes to the original neighborhood of townhomes and small lot houses.</p>

February 28 - The Charlotte Observer

<p>New York Times writer Chistopher Gray chronicles the history and recent renovation of New York City's 'brownstone Grand Canyon' on East 93rd street.</p>

February 28 - The New York Times

<p>Crediting the city's 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness, officials in Portland, Oregon, have announced that the number of people sleeping on the street has declined 39 percent in the last two years.</p>

February 28 - The Portland Tribune

<p>One of Los Angeles' transportation commissioners advocates eliminating bus and train fares to help the urban poor and encourage ridership.</p>

February 28 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>As middle and upper class black families increasingly move to the suburbs of Phoenix, they must cope with the loss of cultural connections that existed in historically black neighborhoods.</p>

February 28 - Tucson Citizen

<p>Some suburban school districts are dividing new high schools into smaller wings to create a tighter sense of community.</p>

February 28 - Minneapolis Star Tribune

<p>Designed by architect William McDonough, a pair of towers recently approved for downtown Chapel Hill will be the first mixed-use development to meet LEED Gold standards in North Carolina.</p>

February 28 - The News & Observer

<p>One county in China has been exempt from the country's controversial one-child policy for two decades. Additional rules about when parents may marry and have children have kept the county's birthrate lower than the national average.</p>

February 28 - The Christian Science Monitor

BLOG POST

<p>At Project for Public Spaces, Inc. we think successful public spaces are the key to the future of cities. By “successful spaces” we mean spaces that are used, but what we find more often than not, in the centers of cities, are some very bad spaces – meaning that they are pretty much devoid of opportunities to do anything – even though they look good. We have also found that the least successful spaces and buildings are often the newest ones.</p>

February 27 - Anonymous

<p>More common sense is needed in creating and managing the litany of federal, state and local policies intended to create more affordable housing.</p>

February 27 - Florida Trend

<p>Can Oregon, Metro and Portland learn from the rest of the nation in their new planning efforts: Regulation and policy, alone, do not produce development.</p>

February 27 - The Oregonian

BLOG POST

<p>New Orleans is experiencing a crime wave. High murder rates in the first two months of 2007 have made national attention. Anderson Cooper of CNN has been following this story. So far this year he has devoted two hour-long shows to this topic. I live in central New Orleans and my biggest complaint about the city is the high crime rate. I don’t think our city will recover if we fail to address this most serious issue. Crime makes you ask yourself – should I move to the suburbs where it’s safer and commute? But being a transportation planner, I can’t help but follow-up that question with – If I spend a lot more time driving will my exposure to dieing in a car accident increase? So which is worse - murder or traffic fatalities?</p>

February 27 - John Renne