The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin based his entire State of the State speech this year on the state’s “full-blown heroin crisis.” The crisis has obvious impacts on neighborhoods, but did land use policy contribute to the problem?

March 1 - The New York Times

In the Netherlands, a radical idea is being tested: Self-contained "villages" where people with dementia shop, cook, and live together—safely.

March 1 - Gizmodo

Are rideshare companies like Uber here to stay? The answer likely hinges on a series of legal battles taking place nationwide.

March 1 - Grist

When freeways are dismantled, economic, and social benefits often follow. A mid-20th Century mechanistic view fails to understand such outcomes.

March 1 - Better! Cities & Towns

The Oscars are this weekend, so its an appropriate time to turn to movie magic as a powerful force for how American’s perceive environments—from rural to urban and everything between.

February 28 - Next City

The proposed Ashland Bus Rapid Transit line in Chicago, the latest effort in an ambitious multi-modal transportation investment plan by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and former Chicago DOT Commissioner Gabe Klein, is a game changer for an already unique city.

February 28 - The Atlantic Cities

The City Block examines the ongoing zoning code update in Washington D.C. relative to a zoning code tradition of maintaining restrictions on growth.

February 28 - City Block

A pair of large winter storms hit California this week, providing a sorely needed, if incremental, reprieve from an ongoing and historic drought. A new twitter account, @LosAngelesRain has personified that rarest of commodities, rain in Los Angeles.

February 28 - KPCC

Dallas is mulling changes to the process by which neighborhoods can seek and obtain conservation district status. As city staff considers the changes, one former councilwoman for the city asks, “if it ain’t broke…”

February 28 - Lakewood/East Dallas Advocate

A recent article surveys a few examples of residents in cities around the country employing tactical urbanism. As tactical urbanism has been adopted in different ways in different cities, so to have the reactions of city leaders varied.

February 28 - Governing

Earlier in February, the Oregon Court of Appeals threw out a 50-year growth plan approved in 2010 for Metro and Portland area counties. Oregon legislators reacted with House Bill 4078, which has broad support.

February 28 - The Oregonian

Not all gentrification is alike. New research show just how different gentrification is in St. Louis as compared to Seattle or San Francisco.

February 28 - Legacy Cities

The 495 Express Lanes opened in Virginia in November 2012 and have yet to meet ridership projections. That might not be a problem when built by the public sector, but the road is a $1.4 billion investment by the Australian firm Transurban.

February 28 - WAMU

BLOG POST

Insurance coverage hasn’t kept up with the cost of medical care and property damage caused by crashes. And whether we drive or not, when someone can’t pay for the damage they’ve done, we all have to pick up the tab.

February 28 - Shane Phillips

James Kennedy examines a proposed development of a McDonald’s and a Family Dollar store in Providence, Rhode Island, for lessons about the city’s land use policies.

February 27 - ecoRI

Detroit recently replaced New Orleans as the American city with the highest rate of blight. As Detroit undertakes its plans to shrink, which includes a massive blight removal campaign, what lessons from New Orleans bear repeating?

February 27 - New York Times

Forbes recently released its annual list of America’s Fastest-Growing Cities. The list considers both population and economy.

February 27 - Forbes

Agenda 21, a nonbinding United Nations resolution signed in 1992 by 170 world leaders, was developed to encourage "sustainable development." Now it’s a political talking point that kills planning efforts all over the country.

February 27 - Next City

The full declaration on CBR by DOT regulators was “an imminent hazard to public health and safety and the environment." An immediate safety order was issued requiring vigorous testing of crude and prohibition of use of some tanker cars.

February 27 - The Wall Street Journal - U.S.

A new bill approved by the state of Georgia's House of Representatives makes it illegal to remain in the fast lane when a faster vehicle approaches from behind.

February 27 - Atlanta Journal-Constitution