The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>Critic Christopher Hume bemoans the destruction of historic homes in Toronto to make way for new residential condo towers.</p>

March 24 - The Toronto Star

<p>Luxury residential towers are popping up all over New York City, bringing about what one critic calls the "greatest transformation in the city’s physical identity since the 1960s".</p>

March 24 - The New York Times

<p>Report ranks largest 50 US cities by their readiness for $4+ a gallon gas and $100+ a barrel oil prices</p>

March 24 - Common Current

<p>New York's new Governor, David Paterson, added his support to the idea of charging drivers to enter the busiest sections of Manhattan. The city's congestion pricing project is one of the largest toll system projects in the US.</p>

March 24 - The New York Times

<p>The economic slowdown has caused a slowdown in growth, even in the Salt Lake City area -- recently one of the nation's fastest growing regions. This editorial calls on officials to use the slowdown as a chance to reconsider the area's growth pattern.</p>

March 24 - The Salt Lake Tribune

<p>New York Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff discusses why the impending breakdown of the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn is a harsh blow to urban planning in New York.</p>

March 24 - The New York Times

<p>A recently announced $12.5 billion metropolitan rail system plan for Sydney has many in the region excited about finally getting a good mass transit system. But they are also wary, as many other proposals promising similar services were never kept.</p>

March 24 - The Sydney Morning Herald

<p>If 'superblocks' are so bad, why are we still building more of them?</p>

March 24 - Streetsblog

<p>The editor of <em>Grist</em>'s recent series on the Army Corps of Engineers and the Mississippi River offers some thoughts about the future challenges and issues facing the region.</p>

March 24 - Grist

<p>This report from <em>NPR</em> looks at the efforts of one educator to help rebuild communities in New Orleans by rebuilding the city's charter school system.</p>

March 23 - NPR

<p>Pianos have popped up in random public places in Birmingham, England -- a public art installation that passively invites passersby to take a seat and tickle the ivory.</p>

March 23 - The Guardian

<p>Two ballot measures on the June ballot in California will challenge the state's eminent domain and rent control rules.</p>

March 23 - The San Francisco Chronicle

<p>After years in waiting, two historic Victorian neighborhoods in Brooklyn are finally coming up for historic designation approval.</p>

March 23 - The New York Times

<p>A <em>Los Angeles Times</em> columnist hears about the Los Angeles density controversy and sees its implications during a recent drive around town with County Commissioner Zev Yaroslavsky.</p>

March 23 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>Dysfunctional and wasteful practices have defined the army Corps of Engineers for years. Despite being caught in the act many times, the Corps continues to propose and push forward unnecessary projects, according to this article.</p>

March 22 - Grist

<p>The planning process has taken a little longer than expected for a Chinese investor looking to create Germany's first Chinatown.</p>

March 22 - Der Spiegel

<p>The city of Long Beach, California, has initiated a bike sharing program for city officials. The program consists of 16 shared bikes, usable by city employees for short trips and errands around the city.</p>

March 22 - Press Telegram (Long Beach, CA)

<p>The town of Slough gets no respect, but it's trying.</p>

March 22 - The New York Times

<p>Why Americans don't cycle in the cold and rain, and why they do in Amsterdam.</p>

March 22 - Streetsblog

BLOG POST

We all know there&#39;s a lot of planning going on around the world. Much of it is poor, short-sighted and generally just no good. But there are also some really great ideas being developed and adopted, and they should be considered by cities and communities all over the world as instructive examples of good planning. Here are what I think are some of the best ideas in urban planning from the last week.

March 21 - Nate Berg