The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Decaying and disused buildings litter many American inner-city neighborhoods. In Houston, one imaginative project turns potential into pride and empowerment by creating unique, new uses for old homes.

September 23 - Switchboard

Rapid urbanization in India will create unplanned cities with poor quality of life unless steps are taken to integrate urban design and planning with governance structures, and primitive planning methods are revamped with the latest technology.

September 23 - Hindustan Times

Although the findings of a vast, decades-long study into the effectiveness of efforts to decrease the segregation of poor families did not turn up the results social scientists had hoped for, those efforts were successful in unexpected ways.

September 22 - The New York Times

In the latest entry in his "Boulevards" series, Christopher Hawthorne reports on the planned light rail line along Crenshaw Blvd in Los Angeles, and how it has caused a rift for some residents who are feeling left out of the revitalization process.

September 22 - The Los Angeles Times

Despite the rise in bicycling in many U.S. cities, federal funds have shrunk in the recent transportation bill. However changes in the way funds are allocated allows for more local control, and cities are stepping up.

September 22 - Politco

As if to show that "walkable" is the new mobility in America, even with single-family-homes, new census findings show two-thirds of homes constructed last year had front porches while the number of garages or carports decreased to late 1990 levels.

September 22 - USA Today

A first-of-its-kind study measures the unique health problems of individual cities in the European Union, revealing interesting, and sometimes mysterious, results.

September 22 - The Atlantic Cities

The satirical newspaper <em>The Onion</em> lampoons long shot economic development strategies and overly ambitious city leaders with a post on "St. Louis 2.0" - a "sad little plan" for turning the city into a technology hub.

September 21 - The Onion

First appearing in San Francisco in 2005, Park(ing) Day aims to call attention to the need for more urban open space by taking over parking spots and re-purposing them as temporary public spaces. Today it is being celebrated across the world.

September 21 - The New York Times

New Census data out this week shows the share of Americans commuting by alternatives to the automobile continues to rise. In two-thirds of 342 metropolitan areas for which data was provided, public transit use was up, while solo driving dropped.

September 21 - USA Today

Statistics Canada has released more data from the 2011 Census, this time focusing on household composition and type of dwelling. The data finds that growth in housing stock in Canada's larger cities is tied to high-rise living.

September 21 - Vancouver Sun

New rankings from the 2011 American Community Survey released Thursday show that the residents of the D.C. area have benefited from an economy built on "the federal government, its legions of contractors and a flourishing high-tech sector."

September 21 - The Washington Post

With cities such as Vancouver struggling with housing affordability, limited developable land, and residents resistant to change, Bob Ransford suggests we need open and honest debate about density and the big picture of development.

September 21 - The Vancouver Sun

The High Speed Rail Authority received a key approval from the Federal Railroad Administration to begin construction in California's Central Valley, specifically the 60-mile Merced to Fresno stretch. The remaining hurdles are several lawsuits.

September 21 - The Sacramento Bee

As we increasingly relearn the lessons of city-building, just getting the ground floor right is no longer good enough.

September 21 - PlaceShakers and NewsMakers

Dr. Jay Apt offers four cost-effective steps for cities to maintain essential services when the next big blackout hits.

September 21 - The Wall Street Journal

In what may prove to be the counter-argument for why it's the "best hipster neighborhood" in America, the Silver Lake section of Los Angeles has come out on top of Forbes' quasi-scientific rankings.

September 21 - Forbes

FEATURE

How many people go to Grand Central Terminal just for the experience? Peter David Cavaluzzi, FAIA describes a new approach to transit station design that, in its desired appeal to non-transit users, is indebted to the great stations of the past.

September 20 - Peter David Cavaluzzi FAIA

In an effort to make the city's streets safer for the legions of distracted pedestrians gazing downwards at guidebooks and phone screens, NYC is taking a page from its compatriots in London and installing exhortations to “LOOK!” in its crosswalks.

September 20 - The New York Times

Philip Kennicott reviews plans to modernize Washington D.C.'s aging Martin Luther King Memorial Library, the city's only building designed by famed architect Mies van der Rohe, and his only library ever constructed.

September 20 - The Washington Post