The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
"Ghettos" or "Enclaves"?
Studies showing rising concentrations of poorer immigrant groups in Canada's largest cities is causing concern that the country is becoming polarized. But, writes Doug Saunders, such enclaves may be the first step towards integration.
Bay Area Continues To Grow - At Fringes
In a report detailing three decades of growth in the SF Bay Area, an urban think tank details how commercial growth has been disproportionately in the non-transit accessible suburban office parks. However, SF shares the blame. Solutions are offered.
Housing Prices Low, But Not Affordable
The housing market has bombed, bringing prices and values to devastating lows. But despite lower prices, affordable housing is still in too short of supply, according to this piece from <em>Time</em>.
The World in Drought
Population centers the world around are caught in the grips of devastating droughts. Though temporary conditions, their increasing frequency should be a call to water-saving action, writes Tom Englehardt.
Stimulus To Help As Transit Tries To Keep Up
American Public Transportation Association President William Millar visits <em>Living on Earth</em> to discuss how the stimulus will benefit public transit in the U.S. -- and why it's "the best of times and the worst of times."
The Best Housing Markets for 2009... and the Worst
Builder Magazine selects 15 picks for the best housing markets to be in in the U.S. in 2009. Houston, Texas comes out on top, and, predictably, Detroit scrapes the bottom.
Recovery or Rerun?
A new government-sponsored watchdog website will allow citizens to track stimulus-funded projects. It's an effort to insure accountability. Neal Pierce wonders if that accountability will translate into smarter patterns of development.
FEATURE
Better Transportation Needs Better Cities
A new design competition is seeking solutions to L.A.'s transportation problems. But the real solution may not have anything to do with transportation at all.
How to Become an Expert Transit Rider
This commentary from <em>re:place</em> magazine offers tips and insights into how one can ride transit like a pro.
BLOG POST
Architecture's Big Bang
<p> <span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman">Architecture is certainly headed for its own version of the Big Bang. A density of firms are simmering with scarce backlog, delinquent collections, looming layoffs, high overhead, low morale as weakened management relies on a foggy stimulus package to forestall an explosion of great magnitude. After the inevitable, our profession will reconstitute based on a new chemistry.
L.A. Football Stadium Unanimously Approved
The Los Angeles suburb of Industry has approved plans to build a stadium in the city in hopes of luring a football team back to the L.A. area.
Obama Budget A Boon For New York
The new federal budget represents a broad increase in funding for urban programs. New York in particular is to benefit greatly from the new spending plan.
Denver Gets TOD Fund
The City of Denver plans to spend more than $15 million over the next decade to purchase real estate near mass transit.
Sprawl A Major But Ignored Factor in Infrastructure Costs
The federal stimulus package has made infrastructure into a hot topic among states. But, as Mary Newsom writes, states are not addressing the land use patterns that drive up the costs and bring down the efficiency of infrastructure.
Midwest Expecting High Speed Rail Windfall From Stimulus
The Midwest has high hopes on capturing a big chunk of the federal stimulus money directed towards high speed rail projects.
Brazil Looks to Land Titles to Protect Amazon
A new plan is taking form in Brazil to regularize titles to rainforest land -- an effort the government hopes will fight deforestation.
Growth and Un-Growth in Arizona
A boomtown in the desert that was expected to grow in population to more than 350,000 by 2020 is going bust, and putting things in perspective as the economy dives and foreclosures spread.
Slum Tourism Debated
This piece ponders whether slum tourism in places like Dharavi and the favelas of Brazil is a valid form of cultural exchange or merely voyeuristic exploitation?
HUD's Budget Money
This brief from the <em>New York Times</em> outlines how federal budget money will be used by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Preserving Brutalism
At Yale, a modernist landmark is preserved and revitalized. Ada Louise Huxtable looks at the challenges in updating the harshness of brutalist architecture.
Pagination
Smith Gee Studio
City of Charlotte
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
US High Speed Rail Association
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.