The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

It was a beautiful weekend to hit the streets of Pittsburgh—and many did, for the Open Streets Pittsburgh event and the debut of Pittsburgh Bike Share.

June 2 - Pittsburg Post-Gazette

We're all familiar with the now ubiquitous Kickstarter campaigns, but what about some other tools to help crowdfund local retail and development?

June 2 - Community Builders

Improvements funded by the developer of the 73-story Wilshire Grand project will make Downtown Los Angeles' main thoroughfare a better place to walk, bike, and use public transit.

June 2 - Urbanize LA

If Lee has his way, San Francisco will join other cities like New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. by employing speed cameras to issue citations to offending motorists in school zones. But first he needs to find a legislator to draft a bill.

June 2 - San Francisco Chronicle

In exchange for the approval to build One Vanderbilt, a 63-story office tower adjacent to Grand Central Terminal, the developer will give the MTA $220 million for upgrades to entrances of the Metro-North Railroad and the terminal's subway entrances.

June 2 - The New York Times - N.Y. / Region

A new study indicates that the safest urban streets have lanes that measure 10-10.5 feet wide. Narrower and wider lanes have higher crash frequencies, and wider lanes have higher crash severity.

June 2 - Streetsblog USA

BLOG POST

Common planning practices create automobile-dependent communities where driving is convenient and other forms of travel are inefficient. It's time to recognize the value of transportation diversity.

June 2 - Todd Litman

According to an ACEEE report, Boston currently leads the way, with New York, Washington, DC, and San Francisco not far behind. Los Angeles, Washington, and Chicago show the most improvement since 2013.

June 2 - American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy

BLOG POST

It’s wise to search widely across time and space for good examples of processes and products for intercultural city building.

June 1 - Dean Saitta

According to Aaron M. Renn, left-leaning urbanists chafe against a regulatory culture their ideology supports. Favoring "regulation for thee but not for me," they want to bend the rules, but only for enterprises they like.

June 1 - City Journal

BLOG POST

Recent stories claiming that millenials either (a) prefer cities to suburbs or (b) prefer suburbs to cities both have some basis in reality.

June 1 - Michael Lewyn

To curb suburban "sprawl on steroids" and foster higher density infill in Portland, a shift in planning strategy is needed, according to Rick Potestio, the principal of Potestio Studio, an architecture and design firm based in the city.

June 1 - UrbDeZine

As the country's industrial past fades, cities are finding new meaning in their rivers—from the meandering to the mighty.

June 1 - ASLA The Dirt

The autism community is faced with a housing crisis that could from bad to worse if housing standards end a waiver program that allows group homes for people with intellectual and development disabilities.

June 1 - The Atlantic

Penn IUR Co-Directors Genie Birch and Susan Wachter write about the promise of geospatial technologies in promoting sustainable urbanization.

June 1 - Penn Institute for Urban Research

One World Trade Center's long-awaited observatory opened May 29. Located on floors 100, 101 and 102 of the tower, the 47-second elevator trip is as remarkable as the sites from the 1,250 foot high observatory.

June 1 - The Telegraph U.K.

A new medical marijuana industry has been on hold in Florida, but permit processing can now begin following a court decision this week that upheld newly-developed regulations.

June 1 - Orlando Sentinel

Bridges are failing in the Garden State for lack of funds to repair them, No, they are not collapsing, but they are shutting down. Many, including the business community, blame the governor for failing to act.

June 1 - The New York Times - N.Y. / Region

Although large investors made only 4.3 percent of single-family home purchases in 2014, they may be reducing the competitiveness of traditional buyers. With ready cash and sophisticated algorithms, investors get there first and make better bids.

May 31 - CityLab

Rates of growth in America's largest cities increased dramatically in 2010 but have leveled off. Suburbs are growing at nearly identical rates to center cities.

May 31 - Brookings: The Avenue