The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>With gas averaging $3.45 a gallon, the U.S. still only ranks as the 110th most expensive place to buy gas -- out of 155 countries.</p>

May 1 - CNN Money

<p>Smaller, environmentally friendly homes -- ranging from as much as 1000 to as little as 70 square feet -- are a hot trend in modern architecture. Eco-conscious (and wallet-conscious) buyers are increasingly interested in these new "micro mansions".</p>

May 1 - Metropolis Magazine

<p>With Los Angeles now planning to install HOT lanes, a pair of recent articles in the L.A. Times question whether congestion pricing is a way to help the rich at the expense of the poor, or a practical solution to traffic congestion and its ills.</p>

May 1 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>Blueprint Denver, the city's comprehensive plan, calls for preserving single-family neighborhoods. But the recent move by the city council to reduce the allowed density in two communities has some residents and developers unhappy.</p>

May 1 - The Rocky Mountain News

<p>Officials in Youngstown, Ohio, hope to save money and strengthen their community by vacating sparsely populated neighborhoods, but homeowners in the targeted areas are reluctant to leave -- even with the city's $50,000 incentives.</p>

May 1 - CNN Money

<p>In the current issue of Housing Policy Debate, Reid Ewing and Fang Rong argue that sprawling urban form contributes to higher residential energy use. Two responses -- one from Samuel Staley and another by John Randolph -- rebut the paper.</p>

May 1 - Housing Policy Debate

<p>$153 million in congestion reduction funds that had been awarded to New York City will now go to Chicago to apply congestion pricing to street parking spaces. Funds will also go toward developing pilot Bus Rapid Transit routes on dedicated lanes.</p>

May 1 - U.S DOT: Office of Public Affairs

<p>The housing markets most affected by the subprime mortgage fallout are those with the toughest land use regulations, argues Wendell Cox.</p>

May 1 - The Heritage Foundation

<p>New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman holds no punches in expressing his displeasure in the 'gas tax holiday' proposal now that presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has joined presumptive Republican nominee John McCain in endorsing it.</p>

April 30 - The New York Times

<p>Taxpayers typically contribute more than 50 percent of the cost of a new stadium or arena these days, but what are they getting for their money?</p>

April 30 - The American

<p>A new reports says high gas prices have contributed to falling house prices in the nation's suburbs.</p>

April 30 - The Oregonian

<p>While cities are focused on promoting green 'buildings', planners and landscape architects need to advocate more green city planning.</p>

April 30 - BBC News

<p>Access to water is becoming increasingly tight in many parts of the world. This article from <em>Wired</em> looks at three thirsty regions and what they are doing to counteract the shortage.</p>

April 30 - Wired

<p>The downturn in the economy could bring about major changes to the pattern of suburban sprawl development.</p>

April 30 - Marketplace

<p>A transportation official in Toronto is hoping to convince colleagues that the system should allow advertisers to buy naming rights for transit stops in the city as a way of increasing revenue, but many remain opposed.</p>

April 30 - The Ottawa Citizen

<p>California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is pushing forward with plans to run a power line through the middle of one of the state's parks -- much to the chagrin of environmentalists.</p>

April 30 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>Private investors and developers must come forward and plan around proposed rail lines in Detroit if there is any hope of transit materializing, according to this editorial.</p>

April 30 - The Detroit Free Press

<p>This slideshow from <em>Slate</em> looks at the elaborate plans for new cities in the United Arab Emirates, and compares them to other built-from-scratch cities in history.</p>

April 30 - Slate

<p>Mayors of Reading and Scranton, Pa. plead for presidential candidates to address substantive city-region issues, such as transit access, investment in high-tech industries and increased federal funding for sustainable infrastructure improvements.</p>

April 30 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

BLOG POST

<p> When talking to people about Los Angeles, one comment I often here is that L.A. was the first city to be built around the automobile. This statement certainly makes sense when you look at the current landscape of Los Angeles – with its freeways and strip malls and crowded parking lots – and lack of a widespread rail transit infrastructure when compared to other dense American cities.<br /> <br /> The problem with this statement is that it’s not really true. While the car has definitely left its impression on the region, Los Angeles could actually be considered a textbook example of a city built around transit – albeit one that no longer exists.<br />

April 29 - Christian Madera