The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Seattle developers are moving ahead with plans for three new downtown office towers - the first in 20 years - despite abundant vacant space in the area. Much sought-after tech tenants will be a tough lure because “[t]hey like weird buildings.”

August 23 - The Seattle Times

Slow bicycling groups and events allow people to socialize, exercise, and never worry about being left behind, reports Jennifer Levitz.

August 23 - The Wall Street Journal

A Chicago-based community development financial institution (CDFI) and efficiency group help apartment building owners tame high utility costs, preserve affordable housing, and cut global warming emissions.

August 23 - WBEZ FM Chicago

The owners of a Weimar-era parking garage in Berlin that's beloved by modernist enthusiasts are seeking to have its landmark status revoked in order to tear it down. Will officials forgo an opportunity to preserve the German capital's recent past?

August 23 - The New York Times

With sleek high-rises, a waterfront promenade, and yacht-filled marina, Eko Atlantic could help Lagos attract the world's elite. But when it isn't busy demolishing their homes, what is the government doing to improve poor residents' quality of life?

August 22 - The New Yorker

In a 1957 book, author Selden Rodman collected conversations with 35 of America's preeminent artists and architects. The interviews with Frank Lloyd Wright are a font of choice quotes on topics from Le Corbusier to NYC's density.

August 22 - Brain Pickings

America's oil and gas boom has energy companies ramping up their ability to export natural gas, and the feds eager to approve export terminal projects. But Dow Chemical’s chief executive warns that exports threaten the U.S. manufacturing renaissance.

August 22 - The New York Times

Low interest rates and incentives from the state are helping Buffalo, NY to leverage its waterfront and extraordinary architecture to create a vibrant downtown, with historic preservation and adaptive reuse projects at center stage.

August 22 - The Architect's Newspaper

Could L.A.'s ambitious transit expansion plans become a victim of Congressional budget battles? The extension of the city's subway and downtown Regional Connector are among the projects funded by the Senate but neglected by the House.

August 22 - Los Angeles Times

Though the Obama administration poured billions of dollars into expanding broadband access across America (98 percent of homes now have access), reducing digital inequality has been a far greater challenge.

August 22 - The New York Times

Plan Bay Area must be doing something right as it seems to be antagonizing those on both ends of the planning spectrum. First, a libertarian group sues because of "densification", and now environmentalists sue because not enough funds go for transit.

August 22 - KQED News

Two new reports published by the Department of Energy detail the remarkable rise in wind power in the United States. Energy derived from the wind can now power more than 15 millions homes.

August 22 - Fast Company Co.Exist

Lac-Mégantic, Quebec was the site of a train derailment that cost dozens of lives and destroyed 10 blocks of its downtown. Now residents and town leaders are working to heal from that tragic event with plans for the future.

August 22 - The Globe and Mail

A controversial plan to generate revenue for New York City's struggling public housing authority by allowing private development is being reconfigured and pushed off until the next administration after it received considerable opposition.

August 22 - The New York Times

In dizzying towers of dozens of monotonous, yet colorful, stories, Hong Kong residents make their homes in apartments that average 400 square feet. For photographer Michael Wolf the stark high-rise landscape provides powerful subject matter.

August 21 - Wired

Noah Nelson explores the generational shift in the idea of ownership as Millennials ditch the traditional big ticket and consumer items - seemingly anything but a smartphone and food - for shared experiences.

August 21 - NPR

A house designed by pioneering modernist Eileen Gray, and later covered in murals by Le Corbusier, sits in preservation limbo as experts and officials debate whose legacy demands more respect in stalled renovations.

August 21 - The Wall Street Journal

A $15 million investment has so far failed to cleanse Denver's downtown park - part of the city's first National Historic Landmark - of rampant drug use and crime. What more can the city do to speed up change?

August 21 - The Denver Post

Chicago's Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) is considering overhauling how it distributes funds to the area's three transit operators: the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) bus and rail system, Metra commuter rail, and Pace suburban bus system.

August 21 - Chicago Tribune

A patchwork of isolated water crises in communities throughout the western United States adds up to one intricately woven story: 'we’ve reached peak water in the American west.'

August 21 - ScienceBlogs