The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Transit Officials Broaden Vision for Phoenix Light Rail
Changing demographics and transit demands in the Phoenix area are causing transit planners to rethink where the region's light rail system should expand.
Market Crash Leaves L.A. Flush With High-Priced Plots
Bought at the height of the real estate market and intended for conversion into high-priced luxury apartment buildings, empty plots of land are littered throughout Los Angeles, undeveloped and quietly back on the market at greatly reduced prices.
Overhead Wires Cloud Future of D.C. Streetcar and Reputation
Washington D.C. is moving forward with plans to construct streetcars in the city, but a law more than 100 years old banning overhead wires is threatening the progress of those plans.
Public Space Creation in Three Midwestern Cities
This piece from <em>The Architect's Newspaper</em> takes a look at three midwestern cities that have recently benefited from outside investments in their urban centers.
On the Mesa, Off the Grid
A mesa in New Mexico is home to nearly 400 people, which makes up one of the largest communities of people in the U.S. living almost completely off the grid.
Government Turns to Prize-Sourcing
The Federal government spends almost $137 billion a year on research. A new paper suggests that Federal, state, and local govs would encourage significantly more innovation by holding contests with a cash prize.
Carrion Promotes "Generous Zoning Around Transit Hubs"
Director of the White House Office of Urban Policy Adolfo Carrión says that The White House wants to encourage the creation of "neighborhoods that are rich with opportunity."
Saving Modernism in Palm Springs
Palm Springs is seen as a haven for Modernist architecture, but so far no local buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places.
BLOG POST
An Eruption of Unresilience
Urban Farming Going Global
The move towards growing produce locally in urban areas is not just a U.S. phenomenon, says CNN. China, Japan and Cuba have had agriculture in cities for decades.
Revisiting Sites of Eco-Disaster
Stephanie Rogers revisits 7 of the greatest environmental disasters (including the 2008 TVA coal sludge spill) and finds that while they may have left the headlines, serious problems remain.
The Suburb That Never Was
California City, California was designed to be the state's next great metropolis. But today it's hardly more than a dream. Geoff Manaugh reports on this modern-day ghost town.
BLOG POST
GPS a Go-Go for Community Shuttle Bus
<p> With the brilliant help of graduates from Hoboken's <a href="http://www.stevens.edu/">Stevens Institute of Technology</a>, our local community shuttle bus (a.k.a. The Hop, formerly known as The Downtown Crosstown Shuttle) can now be viewed <a href="http://www.hobokennj.org/departments/transportation-parking/the-hop/">live on the city's website</a> as it cruises along narrow Hoboken city streets from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM (EST), Monday through Friday. If you're not near the internet, try texting “crosstown” to 41411 to get a return text with the location of the bus' whereabouts whenever it's running, then run down to the corner before you miss it! </p>
Climate/Energy Gas Tax Nixed
Despite many reports to the contrary, the developing climate legislation by Senators Graham, Lieberman, and Kerry to be unveiled April 26 will not include a fuel fee, reports The Hill. And don't blame the oil industry - they supported the gas tax.
Rethinking Rural Development
Silos and smokestacks are the way of the past for rural area development, according to economist Mark Drabenstott who offers a new idea for bringing economic activity to rural places.
Small Towns Seek to Buy Back Energy Infrastructure
Small German towns that had sold off their energy utilities to large corporations in the 1990s are trying to buy them back. They want to be back in on the lucrative energy market, but have large and formidable opponents.
FEATURE
Shrinking Cities: Urban Renewal Revisited?
The theory that shrinking ailing cities is going to cure them is unproven and wrongheaded, says Roberta Brandes Gratz -- and is fueled by the same forces behind the urban renewal practices of the mid-20th century.
Miami: The Changing Face of America
The city of Miami is the setting of a forthcoming book by novelist Tom Wolfe, whose works have come to define eras in American culture. Some say his selection of Miami as a setting shows that the melting pot city is the face of a changing America.
Portland the Weird
The Economist looks at Portland's "weirdness" with an arched eyebrow, and asks, is this the next great model for the American city?
Transportation Frustration in Toronto
Toronto transit activists are frustrated that funding for planned streetcars is being rerouted, and are preparing a "Save Transit City" campaign.
planning NEXT
Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie
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Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
