The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
To Park Or Preserve?
<p>A plan to demolish a historic nightclub to make way for a 20-space parking lot in Toronto is "lunacy", writes Christopher Hume.</p>
BLOG POST
A Guide to Taser-Free Public Meetings
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">We all saw it on the Internet—the fellow at a public meeting being hauled away from the microphone before getting wrestled to the floor and tasered during a Q&A with John Kerry. Fortunately, silencing argumentative speakers with a taser is not a common occurrence at most public meetings. While I might confess that there have been meetings where, in retrospect, one might have secretly wished one was armed with a stun gun, facilitators generally try to avoid confrontation. Yet there’s no denying that sometimes people show up at public meetings looking for a fight, begging for outrage, and hoping to irritate and inflame.
PM Brown Boosts Eco-Town Efforts
<p>New British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced plans to double the development of carbon-conscious "eco-towns" in an effort to reduce the country's emissions and expand its strained housing stock.</p>
Forget Dubai, Abu Dhabi's Got The Plan
<p>With an environmentally-conscious plan and ambitions to lure some of the world's most well-respected institutions, the emirate of Abu Dhabi is on a forward-thinking path and should be watched more closely than its extravagant counterpart, Dubai.</p>
Suburban Boston Lashes Out Against McMansions
<p>Residents and planners are just about fed up with McMansions in the Bsoton suburb of Wellesley, and they are looking to impose strict regulations on housing size and give a residential board oversight on proposed houses.</p>
Why Idaho Shouldn't Pay Per Mile
<p>This editorial from the <em>Idaho Statesman</em> says that a proposal to switch from a per-gallon gas tax to a per-mile taxing system is flawed.</p>
Will Amsterdam Turn Off The Red Light?
<p>In a move to clean up the world-renowned district of ill-repute, a $35 million dollar buyout will cut more than one third of the prostitution rooms in Amsterdam's famed Red Light district.</p>
Could Planning Decisions Form A New Climate Change Policy?
<p>Land use, housing location, and the "everyday decisions" of planners are the backbone of a new way of looking at climate change policy, according to this article from the <em>Los Angeles Times</em>.</p>
Schools To Be Built Near Freeways Despite Health Threat
<p>Recent studies have shown that locating homes and schools near freeways increases the rate of asthma and other diseases in children, but the Los Angeles Unified School District has plans for 7 more school within 500 feet of freeways.</p>
Transit Village's Promises May Be Too Ambitious
<p>This editorial from Boulder, Colorado's <em>Daily Camera</em> takes a critical look at the projected demographic shifts that some say would be created by a proposed transit village in the city.</p>
Feds Push BRT As Portland Seeks Streetcar Expansion
<p>Portland, Oregon's plans to expand its streetcar system are meeting some resistance from the federal government, which has identified bus rapid transit as its pubic transit investment of choice.</p>
Assembly-Line Schools Cater To Growth
<p>Fast-paced growth in Loudoun County, Virginia, has created the need for more schools. In the past 11 years 37 have been built, boasting the precision and efficiency of an assembly line. But is faster better?</p>
Ugly Architecture: Does It Have An Alibi?
This commentary from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer looks at the idea that buildings can make us happy, and asks why we put up with buildings that make us unhappy.
Sacramento's Core Fills In
<p>After years of trying to get more properties built for sale downtown, new urban infill projects are springing up in Sacramento's core.</p>
Struggling Paris Suburb Still Waits For Help
<p>Clichy-sous-Bois, the Paris suburb that ignited angry rioting amongst France's young minorities in 2005, is still waiting on the government to provide for its struggling populace.</p>
BLOG POST
Our collective identity crisis
<p><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Verdana">Since making the switch from architecture to planning / urban design, I’ve been fascinated by the continuing dialogue that surrounds what we do to explain… what we do.<span> </span>There is less emphasis on this dialogue in architecture of course as the tacit assumption is that architects build.<span> </span>(I would say not all great architects need to build but this is a debate for a different setting.)<span> </span>What did often emerge in architecture was the common concern that “design” is not valued to the degree that it should.<span> </span>And why not?<span> </span>Architects spend anywhere from 5-6 years in school the majority of which is spent in studio learning how to design.<span> </span>Who wants to then enter the profession feeling like their education mis-led them?<span>
Looking For The Best City Sounds
<p>Researchers in the UK are working to create a database of urban sounds -- both the good and the bad -- in an effort to help planners, designers, and architects create cities everyone wants to listen to.</p>
New York Considers Discounting Off-Peak Transit Fares
<p>New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority is considering a plan to charge transit riders less during off-peak hours.</p>
Weighing BRT
<p>This four-part blog from <em>Wired</em> gives a nuts-and-bolts look at bus rapid transit, using examples of planned systems, successful systems, and troubled systems.</p>
BLOG POST
How Much Can You Pay? A New Criterion for Stormwater Management
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">What if the utility company asked you how much you made when you called to start service in a new home?<span> </span>What if they wanted this information to tie your bill to your salary and not to how much gas, electricity or water you used? <span> </span>Would that seem fair?<span> </span>That’s how some communities are treating developers when determining how much stormwater they should be required to manage. <span> </span>But regulations that link stormwater standards to the developer’s ability to pay are neither fair nor efficient. <span> </span>Environmental regulations and their costs should be directly linked to the impact on the environment, not to profit margins.</font></p>
Municipality of Princeton
Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission
City of Mt Shasta
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
US High Speed Rail Association
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)
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