The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

A rule proposed by the Obama Administration has been criticized for attempting to build an "unrealistic utopia." The Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing would require cities to fund affordable housing in a broader spectrum of neighborhoods.

June 15 - The Hill

The big market forces of Los Angeles long ignored Elysian Valley, colloquially called Frogtown. But now the neighborhood has hip cachet and residents are organizing to have a say as the area changes.

June 15 - Los Angeles Review of Books

Now that voters have decisively rejected a sales tax measure that would have also hiked the gas tax, House representatives have proposed eliminating the state's Earned Income Tax Credit that benefits the working poor to help pay for roads.

June 15 - Record-Eagle

While some states are cutting back on transportation expenditures as funds run short, Iowa is not one of them, having passed a 10-cent gas tax increase that took effect March 1. New highway expansions are funded in addition to "fix it first."

June 14 - The Gazette

Blogger Shane Phillips writes that San Francisco has two possible responses to its housing crisis: increase supply to accommodate newcomers, or hunker down and promote only subsidized housing. Both, he says, are lousy. Other coastal cities, beware.

June 14 - Better Institutions

Google, already one of the most pervasive technology providers of urban experiences everywhere, has increased its bet on the smart cities movement.

June 14 - Cities for the Future

Seattle is showing all indications of a city ready to take its bikeshare system to the next level.

June 14 - Seattle Bike Blog

Oil prices plummeted 60 percent since last summer, yet American crude output will reach a record this year according to the Energy Information Administration's Fall Short-Term Energy Outlook. Gas prices will drop about 35 cents this year.

June 14 - USA Today

Albert Lea, Minnesota proves that small towns can reinvent themselves—often faster than big cities—and that walkable communities aren't only possible in urban neighborhoods.

June 13 - MinnPost

An annual competition to recognize public spaces for their economic and social benefit has announced six finalists.

June 13 - Architect

A proposal to build a $175 million tram across the New York Harbor has the support of the Staten Island Economic Development Corporation and a mayor who is willing to listen.

June 13 - Staten Island Advance

Though the number of residents in the state affected by drought dropped by the millions after recent heavy rains, areas of the state that rely on underground supplies of water could still run out of water within months.

June 13 - The Houston Chronicle

A panel at the recent Urban Land Institute conference in Houston considers the imperative of understanding mixed-use development and its various forms.

June 13 - Rice Kinder Institute for Urban Research

Henry Melcher reports on a humorous response to the new renderings revealed for the future 2 WTC tower (also the future home of 21st Century Fox and News Corp), designed by Bjarke Ingels Group.

June 12 - The Architect's Newspaper

Coulda, woulda, shoulda. The Toronto City Council sided with Mayor John Tory this week to rebuild an elevated freeway in downtown rather than tearing it down.

June 12 - Toronto Star

Following a "Mayors Challenge" for bike safety by Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Transportation recently released a "Road Diets" report, providing a geographical diverse collection of case studies.

June 12 - Publicola

Philadelphia Housing Authority will use eminent domain to redevelop a huge swath of vacant properties in the Sharswood neighborhood.

June 12 - Philadelphia Inquirer

The Safer Market Street project is one of a package of traffic safety projects underway in San Francisco to achieve a Vision Zero goal to eliminate traffic deaths by 2024.

June 12 - SFGate

A new Harvard Business School report lays the economic and equity case for fracking—through direct and indirect job creation, America's middle class is reaping substantial wage gains and reduced energy costs. Renewables are also discussed.

June 12 - NPR Morning Edition

Long considered a roadblock to raising the revenues necessary to run California, Prop. 13 is one of the country's most notorious political third rails. Two state senators, however, would roll back Prop 13 protections for commercial properties.

June 12 - Los Angeles Times