The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Urban planning is front in center in Nashville, with a general plan update underway and a mayoral election looming on August 6. One candidate took to the editorial pages of The Tennessean to lay out a housing and transit agenda.

August 4 - The Tennessean

Guns taken off the streets by California police agencies have become a new source of materials for steel reinforcement on bridges and freeways around the Southwest.

August 4 - Global Construction Review

Last week, along a popular San Francisco bike route, a group of protestors took to their bikes to advocate for new laws, such as the Idaho Stop, that make it easier to bike in the city.

August 4 - SF Weekly

BLOG POST

Current planning models places housing affordability and preservation fundamentally at odds with one another. We must be willing to re-evaluate our processes if we are to truly move forward.

August 4 - Reuben Duarte

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray has released a draft plan to overhaul the city's stormwater infrastructure to reduce the pollution levels in Puget Sound.

August 4 - WaterWorld

Inside access to a huge volunteer effort underway in New York City to account for the condition of an estimated 600,000 street trees—where every single one of the city's trees counts.

August 4 - The Nature of Cities

A data visualization project illustrates the long and varied traditions of American single-family housing.

August 4 - The Washington Post

An op-ed calls for an end to five examples of them planning status quo, and recommends four new "rule of thumbs" that can provide a better model for the transportation planning of the future.

August 4 - City Observatory City Commentary

FEATURE

Sean O'Malley and Andrew Watkins, of the landscape architecture, planning, and urban design firm SWA, describe the benefits of a design process that empowers people and communities to participate.

August 4 - Sean O'Malley and Andrew Watkins

Just over a year ago President Obama's draft Clean Power Plan was unveiled. That proposal has been finalized and the president promoted it at a press event on Monday. The final rule is both stronger and more lenient that the original proposal.

August 3 - The Guardian

This vehicle would be larger than a Hummer, a bus, and even an 18-wheeler. Then again, it would not travel on land. The proposal goes by an appropriate acronym: SF-BREEZE. Think fresh air over the bay.

August 3 - AASHTO Journal

Paterson, New Jersey's diverse immigrant population holds the potential to revive the city's declining economy. Writer Jeff Byles documents key resources the city has and how similar postindustrial cities have harnessed community-driven planning.

August 3 - Doggerel

Toronto, Tokyo, and Helsinki may have little in common, but they all top Metropolis Magazine's list of the world's most liveable cities, as named by an expert panel of designers and urbanists. Eight runnners-up were named in a variety of categories.

August 3 - Metropolis Magazine

A new Transit Center report shows what it takes to enact change.

August 3 - Next City

Caron Atlas has spent decades working to understand and improve the relationship between cities and the arts. As co-director of Naturally Occurring Cultural Districts New York, she advocates for the recognition of artistic activity throughout NYC.

August 3 - Satellite Magazine

The beachfront town known for its surfers and celebrities is collecting data that dig deeper than traditional measures of economic prosperity, and the results may be surprising.

August 3 - Fast Company Co.Exist

Roundabouts, not to be confused with traffic circles, are becoming popular throughout the United States. The Bronx will get the first one in NYC. The insurance industry and FHWA consider them far safer than traffic lights and stop signs.

August 3 - The New York Times - Wheels

Can a neighborhood still call itself Chinatown when everyone living there is wealthy and white? Beset by rapid gentrification, longtime residents of D.C.'s Chinatown fight to keep their homes.

August 3 - The Washington Post

BLOG POST

A new American Automobile Association study argues that efforts to reduce driving by higher-risk seniors threaten their health. This analysis is backward: seniors benefit most from reduced driving and improved transport options.

August 3 - Todd Litman

Yet another climate change side effect: more frequent urban heat waves. And because urban temperatures tend higher than rural ones, cities should be ready to protect the most vulnerable.

August 2 - The Nature Conservancy - Cool Green Science