The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Federal requirements often aren't enough incentive for municipalities to create accessible playgrounds, so parent advocates are paving the way for kids with special needs to access playgrounds.

September 2 - NPR

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Advocating safety for the successful electric replacement of internal combustion engine cars solves many of the challenges of an automobile-inclusive future urbanity, and there will be no other kind.

September 1 - Ian Sacs

The Economist's Intelligence Unit has once again ranked Melbourne as the top city in its annual Global Liveability Ranking. Damascus has dropped to the bottom of the list due to Syria's ongoing civil war.

September 1 - The Economist

Nissan has become the first car company to commit to a date for selling self-driving cars in an announcement this week. And it won't just be one model for sale by 2020, Nissan will produce "multiple 'commercially viable' self-driving vehicles."

September 1 - USA Today

George Skelton, capitol journalist for the LA Times, argues for compromise on Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg's SB 731 that weaves a tight line between labor & environmentalists vowing to uphold CEQA and businesses demanding reform.

September 1 - Los Angeles Times

A Donald Shoup devotee offers new insight into the problems and solutions associated with parking in Los Angeles and other cities. Urban Planning professor Richard Willson says it'll cost you, but parking systems are going to get more efficient.

September 1 - The Eastsider LA

With an election looming, the fate of one of Sydney's landmarks rests with voters as current Prime MInister Kevin Rudd suggests selling Garden Island should he be re-elected. Stephen Nicholls and Antony Lawes consider the site's future.

September 1 - Sydney Morning Herald

While Tongva Park's design may not be as bold as what James Corner has demonstrated on other projects or initially envisioned here, we should celebrate its planning, execution, and political sophistication, says Christopher Hawthorne.

August 31 - Los Angeles Times

Ever since a tentative deal for a new sports arena was struck between the City of Sacramento and new owners of the Sacramento Kings, real estate activity around the proposed downtown location has increased including deals for long empty storefronts.

August 31 - The Sacramento Bee

Somerville, a 4.2-square-mile city outside of Boston, has successfully attracted young, educated people, but many worry what an influx of 'hipsters' will do to the small city.

August 31 - The Boston Globe

Changes to the criteria for evaluating applications for the federal New Starts program could have a significant impact on efforts to preserve and expand affordable housing in close proximity to transit.

August 31 - Rooflines

In an echo of the urban inversion confronting many of America's cities, London's phenomenal economic growth over the past decade has come at the expense of the city's suburbs, where unemployment and poverty are growing. Could this be a good thing?

August 31 - The Economist

Satirical newspaper The Onion has released the results of a nationwide poll to determine what the country's residents associate with the word "America". Rather than apple pie, the flag, or baseball, the resounding choice was a strip mall parking lot.

August 30 - The Onion

Non-profit group works to improve efficiency of local governments with technology hacks.

August 30 - Los Angeles Times

TOD as a planning tool is new to Indian cities, where the idea is being championed as a solution to congestion, environment quality and housing equity. Can this concept, developed for the North American city, be successful in Indian cities?

August 30 - The City Fix

In a collection of aerial photos comparing Cincinnati in the 1950s and today, one can see the disastrous effect that the nation's highway building frenzy had on the city's urban fabric.

August 30 - Urbanophile

By a 13-2 vote, the Los Angeles City Council lifted an unevenly applied decade-long ban on public murals on Wednesday, ending a dark period for a city that had long celebrated its social and cultural identity on public walls.

August 30 - Los Angeles Times

In his quest to leave no source of potential revenue unexplored, Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr is looking into selling Detroit's parking lots, meters and garages. The experiences of other cities who've trodden a similar path offer cause for caution.

August 30 - The Detroit News

Got road congestion? Pricing in the form of managed (don't call them HOT) lanes makes more sense than new construction, according to a panel of transportation experts led by HNTB Corp., reports James Bruckbauer of Michigan Land Use Institute.

August 30 - Michigan Land Use Institute

Despite a deep recession driven by a housing bust, the National Alliance to End Homelessness estimates that homelessness dropped by 17 percent from 2005 to 2012. This is astonishing news, right? So why aren't politicians trumpeting this decline?

August 30 - The Atlantic