The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

A new report puts natural gas ahead of coal in the U.S. energy production portfolio.

July 14 - Associated Press via Chicago Tribune

The San Francisco Chronicle published a large, magazine-style feature detailing the impacts of Airbnb on the city's housing market.

July 14 - San Francisco Chronicle

As parking reform takes to multi-family housing, the detached single family home has largely escaped discussion. Should it? Seattle (of course) is taking the lead. Also, is all of Minneapolis ready to eliminate parking minimums along transit lines?

July 14 - Streetsblog Network

BLOG POST

Imagine on your phone being able to wake up and with a simple click be able to arrange all of your transportation needs for the day. Soon your bus pass, carsharing pass, bikesharing pass, and your personal vehicle will go away—replaced by an app.

July 14 - Jennifer Evans-Cowley

The 1.5-mile, $37 million segment of Charlotte's controversial new LYNX Gold streetcar line is set to open July 14. A former mayor, Anthony Foxx, is now the U.S. Transportation Secretary. A federal grant is paying 68 percent of construction costs.

July 14 - The Charlotte Observer

The country as a whole is getting older—though some counties are aging faster than others.

July 14 - Pew Research Center

Existing grey infrastructure in China cannot cope with rapid urban expansion and frequent droughts and floods. Several cities, with Beijing's approval, are experimenting with rainwater capture methods as an alternative.

July 13 - Environment & Energy Publishing (E&E)

A little history on the Inuit of the Circumpolar Region as the kickoff in a blog series by Hazel Borys

July 13 - PlaceShakers

The basics of South Carolina Rep. Tom Rice's "Highway Trust Fund Certainty Act": Increase federal gas and diesel taxes by 10.1 cents in one year, index to inflation, and issue an income tax credit for $133.

July 13 - The Hill

Plans to construct a prestigious express line to O'Hare airport may be overkill. The existing Blue Line, which could benefit from some investment, already connects downtown Chicago and the airport.

July 13 - Chi.Streetsblog

Fast rates of growth in North Texas have produced the demand necessary to drive fast rates of construction for retail.

July 13 - The Dallas Morning News

The long-delayed D.C. Streetcar got some very bad news last week, when a panel of industry experts found evidence of construction mistakes that will severely impact the system's reliability.

July 13 - The Washington Post

New York City is considering a cap on the number of new for-hire drivers (including transportation network companies) while the city studies the impact of for-hire vehicles on the city's congestion.

July 13 - BuzzFeed News

Richmond, Virginia is launching a planning study aimed at maximizing the benefits of a proposed bus rapid transit system connecting the city and its surrounding metropolitan area.

July 13 - Richmond Times-Dispatch

Minneapolis took a large leap forward last week by approving a plan that would reduce parking requirements for transit-adjacent developments in a huge swath of the city—not just downtown.

July 13 - Minneapolis Star Tribune

BLOG POST

Minecraft has players across the globe busy building future cities. Cities recognize the potential of MineCraft as a tool for engaging the public in imagining the future of their city.

July 13 - Jennifer Evans-Cowley

Last year, the "innovation district" rose to prominence as a way to describe urban knowledge economy epicenters. This report from Bruce Katz and Brookings describes how the phenomenon continues to evolve.

July 12 - Brookings

A case study in the development miscues that can move forward while plans are developed and approved.

July 12 - PlanPhilly

Reporting from a two-day conference in Toronto where states and provinces organized to tackle climate change in advance of a UN conference, political reporter Chris Megerian profiles Gov. Brown's climate change commitment in five articles.

July 12 - Los Angeles Times - Political

The game is called INFRA—the action is set in a city where corruption in the private and public sectors has left the city on the brink of collapse.

July 12 - CityLab