The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

In a world of seemingly infinite variety and excess, simplicity engenders great affection. Hazel Borys offers this query on the subject of cottage living: How is it that less adds up to so much more?

July 30 - PlaceShakers

A new governance structure will integrate central Paris with its suburbs in order to facilitate regional planning for 6.5 million inhabitants across 124 municipalities.

July 30 - The Atlantic Cities

Richmond, California is prepared to become the first city in the U.S. to use eminent domain, a power traditionally utilized to force owners to vacate their land in the name of the public good, for the purposes of stopping foreclosures.

July 30 - The New York Times

Police in the New Jersey town of Woodbury are going to extraordinary lengths to bust drivers for failing to yield to pedestrians.

July 30 - NJ.com

When the Bank of America Tower opened in 2010 it was praised as the world's first LEED Platinum skyscraper. But data on the building's performance, post-occupation, show that it's actually an energy hog and massive greenhouse gas polluter.

July 30 - The New Republic

The half-mile circle has become the standard metric for focusing planning efforts and judging the impacts of transit-oriented development. A new study examines whether the half-mile circle is an effective predictor of TOD success.

July 30 - Access

With 87 total waste-to-energy plants in the U.S., the country is only able to convert 12 percent of its trash to electricity (compared to 38 percent for Germany, for instance). Why is America still sending 55 percent of its trash to landfills?

July 29 - Governing

The addition of 50 new police cars, ramped up bus service, and long overdue streetlight repairs are all being planned as bankruptcy proceedings allow Detroit to increase funding for public services.

July 29 - Detroit Free Press

A 'toxic tour' of Los Angeles raises awareness of the harmful effects the city's industrial infrastructure brings to adjacent, often minority, communities. Stops include a battery recycling plant, rendering plant, oil refinery, and scrap yards.

July 29 - Los Angeles Times

Seeking to help improve the city's livability and boost its attraction to talented workers, the Miami Foundation has launched an open competition to identify, and ultimately build, neighborhood public spaces.

July 29 - Miami Herald

Government incentives have long sought to boost the viability of renewable energy sources. Though it accounts for less than a quarter of 1 percent of America's power generation, utility companies say its time to stop subsidizing solar.

July 29 - The New York Times

For those who have embraced cycling for leisure or their daily commute, being comfortable biking at night in urban environs may be the final frontier. Elisabeth Kwak-Hefferan offers some tips for navigating darkened streets in style and safety.

July 29 - Grist

Brasilia’s new soccer stadium, the Estadio Nacional de Brasilia Mane Garrincha, is on track to become the world’s first LEED Platinum-certified FIFA World Cup arena. It's also seen as a symbol of the country's over-investment in sporting events.

July 29 - Green Source

By renewing Madison Square Garden's lease for only 10 years, New York's City Council signaled that relief for passengers using the city's dreadful Penn Station may be in sight. Which of Europe's loathsome stations might be next?

July 29 - The Guardian

It might be a stretch to think that attractive sidewalk bike racks will increase motorists' willingness to "share the road", but it helped a bike shop owner convince the city of Hayward, Calif. to approve the installation of the $450 racks.

July 29 - The Daily Review

BLOG POST

Many people believe that cities are dangerous due to exaggerated fears of urban crime. Cities are actually far safer and healthier than suburban and rural locations, and smart growth policies can further enhance their safety and health advantages.

July 29 - Todd Litman

Discussions over the potential benefits and drawbacks of driverless cars seemingly overlook one important question, says Allison Arieff: "[W]hy continue to design and plan for a car-based society?"

July 29 - The New York Times

With the impending bankruptcy of the Highway Trust Fund in October, 2014, a House Transportation & Infrastructure subcommittee invited two transportation experts - one from CBO the other from DOT, to lay out the stark facts - but did it do any good?

July 28 - Truckinginfo.com

BLOG POST

Although conservatives don't always support urbanism, neither do progressives.

July 28 - Michael Lewyn

Could 'the Hill' neighborhood in Talbot County, MD predate New Orleans' Treme as the nation's oldest continuously inhabited black community? That's what archaeologists are trying to find out in the back yard of the local women’s club.

July 28 - The Washington Post