The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>Ecuadorean President-Elect Rafael Correa has announced dedication to building a port on his country's Pacific Coast in a plan to create a cross-continental river corridor to Brazil, an effort to ease transport of Asian goods throughout South America.</p>

December 25 - Business News Americas

<p>A new light rail project connecting several towns to downtown Portland, Oregon, is highly expected to boost the area's economy. Transit-oriented housing and retail development is expected to contribute significantly.</p>

December 24 - The Oregonian

<p>A number of suburban developments in Alabama are taking cues from regional planners and making efforts to improve their livability by building sidewalks.</p>

December 24 - The Birmingham News via Columbus (AL) Ledger-Enquirer

<p>A reporter goes a week without a car in the San Francisco Bay Area in this article about the pros and cons of non-car transport. Though the monetary costs were lower, the cost of time was much higher, especially for an inexperienced transit user.</p>

December 24 - The Contra Costa Times

<p>Borrowing rhetoric and programmatic ideas from U.S. efforts, the Blair administration in Britaan has managed to cut the nation's child poverty rate by more than half. But anti-poverty policies have not been without their critics.</p>

December 24 - The Wall Street Journal

<p>With new development threatening quirky non-chain restaurants and other retail stores, the City of Austin wants to create a fund to support and attract certain types of downtown businesses.</p>

December 24 - Austin American-Statesman

<p>To make downtown more livable, cities across the nation are converting one-way streets to two-way streets.</p>

December 23 - USA Today

<p>A new report from <em>The Classical City</em>, a journal dedicated to preserving St. Petersburg, Russia, describes the destructive effects of the city's new plan and calls for architecture that is consistent with the city's character.</p>

December 23 - The Classical City

<p>The U.S. Census Bureau reported it's findings for the year ending July 1, 2006: Arizona overtook Nevada to grow the fastest; Texas grew the most, followed by Florida and California, which remains the most populous state.</p>

December 23 - The New York Times

<p>Across America, small towns are struggling to get by economically as many residents move out and businesses follow. But some small towns are employing some creative ideas -- from giant killer bee statues to storytelling festivals -- to stay afloat.</p>

December 23 - The Economist

<p>New statistics from the Canadian Urban Transit Association show that larger cities with better, more frequent transit service, and incentives such as universal bus passes for university students, saw major increases in ridership.</p>

December 23 - The Globe & Mail

<p><em>The Onion</em>, America's "Finest News Source", brings this image of an office building that takes the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) a little too far.</p>

December 22 - The Onion

<p>An advisory task force has been formed to consider rebuilding a historic streetcar system in Tacoma, Washington. Infrastructure and funding issues are proving to be major hurdles.</p>

December 22 - Tacoma Daily Index

<p>The Ghery-designed project, to be built largely on a fallow open railyard, atop the 2nd largest transit station in the U.S., will be filled by 8-million square feet of housing, offices, retail and a new home for the New Jersey Nets basketball team.</p>

December 22 - The New York Times

<p>Representatives from seven Northeast Ohio counties are looking to form a regional partnership that would include tax-sharing, comprehensive regional planning and an equitable distribution of service and affordable housing.</p>

December 22 - The Plain Dealer

<p>The tragic death of a tri-athlete student while bicycling in southern California has sparked a bill to create a three-foot buffer for any vehicle passing a cyclist – but will it create more problems than it attempts to solve?</p>

December 22 - The Sacramento Bee

<p>Seattle's <em>Daily Journal of Commerce</em> investigates how climate change will affect the region's infrastructure and how the region's infrastructure will affect climate change in this two-part piece.</p>

December 22 - Seattle Daily Journal Of Commerce

<p>In Oahu, lawmakers are having trouble agreeing on the best path for a proposed light rail line. The Honolulu mayor wants a different path than that approved by the city council. But it is not even certain if the proposed line will be rail or bus.</p>

December 22 - Honolulu Star Bulletin

<p>The population growth rate has decline for the sixth year in a row in California, causing policymakers to voice concern over a future shortage in the state's educated workforce. High costs of living are blamed for the decline.</p>

December 22 - The San Francisco Chronicle

<p>U.K. government approves two offshore wind farm projects in the Thames Estuary.</p>

December 22 - Abhijeet Chavan