The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

It used to be that Rochester's fortunes were tied to its hometown company, Eastman Kodak. Peter Applebome looks at how the city has managed to avoid the long slide of its famous inhabitant.

January 18 - The New York Times

Ever wonder why LA's skyline is so bland? Apparently it was planned that way.

January 18 - KCET Departures

Trista Kelley reports on an alarming increase in pedestrian deaths for those wearing headphones.

January 18 - Bloomberg/Business Week

Jarrett Murphy writes of a single but significant line in Mayor Bloomberg's recent State of the City address which offers a potential solution to the city’s intertwined fiscal, garbage and energy problems.

January 18 - Next American City

After two brief, magical years in which public transit riders were treated as equals with drivers, the federal government is once again playing favorites.

January 18 - GOOD Magazine

Tim Sheehan investigates the lessons -- both successes and mistakes -- that can be learned from Spain's 20-year history with high speed trains.

January 18 - The Fresno Bee

Kevin Lynch be damned, a new study by a team of German psychologists reaches some surprising conclusions regarding the ways in which our brains navigate the city.

January 18 - The Atlantic Cities

The 102-mile circle that would become the Denver beltway sees no sign of completion as one city--one of Colorado's oldest--vociferously opposes it. But, at a regional level, it may be too late to curb decentralization and sprawl.

January 17 - The New York Times

On Tuesday, China's National Bureau of Statistics announced that China has, for the first time ever, more urban than rural dwellers.

January 17 - The Telegraph

An inspiration for Ebenezer Howard and the first urban planning conference in Britain or America, Amanda Kolson Hurley looks at how Bournville has evolved.

January 17 - The Atlantic Cities

President Obama's 25 year vision for a nationwide revolution in High Speed Rail is stuck in the station.

January 17 - The Washington Post

Urban Land explores examples of recent projects where historic assets serve as unlikely catalysts for master-planned community development and economic growth

January 17 - Urban Land

Stunning archaeological discoveries made in Brazil in recent years have upended conventional wisdom about the forests of the western Amazon.

January 17 - The New York Times

The Supreme Court decision to approve the elimination of California's redevelopment agencies late last year set February 1st as the date of dissolution. A new bill in the state senate would slow down the clock.

January 17 - California Planning & Development Report

Tools for civic engagement -- there's an app for that. The Knight Foundation announces Engagement Commons, a comprehensive catalogue of civic engagement software.

January 17 - Knight Blog

The EPA's new fuel efficiency standards have auto makers scrambling to produce electric and hybrid vehicles, but the higher prices of these vehicles deter buyers.

January 17 - The New York Times

Is Stockholm the world capital of music? Richard Florida maps the geography of popular music using the announced lineup for the 2012 Coachella Music Festival.

January 17 - The Atlantic Cities

Just three weeks after the city announced it was cancelling plans for a 9.3-mile light rail line, a truncated version may be built, but with some key caveats.

January 16 - the transport politic

An increasing number of cities, often led by entrepreneurial mayors, are thinking and acting like startups. The qualities that make a startup company and a city successful, are "remarkably similar".

January 16 - Tech Cruch

Long Beach is leading California's bicycle revolution in many ways, perhaps most creatively in establishing bike-friendly shopping districts.

January 16 - Grist