The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Sydney, Austrlia, Sirius Building

Sydney's Public Housing Gives Way as Land Prices Rise

Rising land values has made some of the land Sydney, Australia's affordable housing sits on prime targets for redevelopment and gentrification.

February 21 - South China Morning Post

Wilshire Grand

BLOG POST

Measure S Is Just Bad Policy

Measure S gives city leaders a moderately satisfying smack across the face. As satisfying as that may be, Measure S is remarkably bad planning and development policy at the expense of the vast majority of Angelinos.

February 21 - Reuben Duarte

Designers Propose New Development Model for NYC's Gentrifying Industrial Districts

From warehouse to art studio to luxury loft: the SoHo model of industrial-zone gentrification has become familiar around the world. A team of New York-based designers developed a proposal for spreading the benefits of economic growth in these areas.

February 21 - Soft City

A Legislative Challenge to Ballot-Box Planning in California

On March 7, Angelenos will vote on Measure S, which would enact a two-year moratorium on denser development. State legislation introduced on Feb. 16 would require a two-thirds vote for these types of slow growth ballot measures.

February 21 - Los Angeles Times

Seattle Train

Buzzing Job Market Means More Transit Riders in Seattle

Solo drivers are down and transit commuters are up in Seattle.

February 21 - The Seattle Times


Caltrain

Trump's California Double Play: Potential Fatal Blow to Commuter and High-Speed Rail

In one of her first major decisions, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao deferred a decision on a critical $647 million federal grant to electrify the 51-mile San Francisco to San Jose Caltrain line, which would also be used by high-speed rail.

February 21 - SF Gate

A More Disorderly Urban Form Praised in UN's Quito Papers

A UN conference in Quito Ecuador in October 2016 looked at housing the world’s growing urban population. The Conference resulted in a document and film advocating a more organic and disorderly urban form.

February 21 - UrbDeZine


Suburban Neighborhood

BLOG POST

Unaffordability is a Problem but Sprawl is a Terrible Solution

Many households spend more than they can afford on housing and transportation, but the latest International Housing Affordability Survey is wrong to recommend sprawl as the best solution. Real solutions must reduce both housing and transport costs.

February 21 - Todd Litman

Texas Capitol Building

Austin Looking to Five New View Corridors

The city of Austin is looking for ways to keep all eyes on the state capitol building.

February 20 - Austin Monitor

Bike and Bus Lane

San Francisco's Raised Bike Lanes Fail to…Rise

Citing problems with the raised lanes on Market Street, the city walks back plan for raised bike lane on Polk.

February 20 - CityLab

Airport

New Master Plan in the Works at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

The Port of Seattle’s Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) will set an vision for 20 years of growth at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

February 20 - The Urbanist

London Heathrow Airport

The London Subway Is Bad for Commuters' Lungs

A new study from the University of Surrey produced counterintuitive results about the relative pollution levels of commuters around London.

February 20 - CityLab

Cook County Land Bank Expands Vacancy Program, Offers 4,400 Lots for Sale

The vacant lot program at the Cook County Land Bank Authority recently kicked into high gear—offering a huge number of vacant lots for sale, located around 27 neighborhoods and suburbs in the Chicago region.

February 20 - Crain's Chicago Business

I-5 Bridge

Back From the Dead: The Columbia River Crossing Between Portland and Vancouver

Washington lawmakers are looking for solutions to worsening congestion between their state and the city of Portland—possible solutions includes a controversial bridge proposal that had been abandoned for years.

February 19 - Oregon Public Broadcasting

Chicago Bus Rapid Transit

Not One Driver in Chicago Has Ever Gotten a Ticket for Driving in Bus Lanes

A $32 million infrastructure project in downtown Chicago to create dedicated bus lanes and improve bus shelters is done, but the city of Chicago and its police are not enforcing the laws they made to make that system run.

February 19 - NBC Chicago

UPS LNG Truck

No Left Turns for UPS Trucks

To avoid accidents and conserve fuel, UPS trucks sometimes take circuitous routes on their deliveries, avoiding left turns.

February 19 - Quartz

Empty Retail

Should Online Shopping Change How We Use Ground-Level Space?

Urbanist Jane Jacobs' support for mixed use development has long been seen as the best urban design strategy, but this vision assumed that the retail space under housing could be rented. What if that is no longer the case?

February 19 - Shelterforce/Rooflines

New York City Pedestrians

Walking While Black: The Racial Disparity in Pedestrian Fatalities

Pedestrians of color are more likely to be killed in traffic crashes.

February 19 - NPR

Scott Pruitt

Climate Change Skeptic Confirmed to Head U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

The U.S. Senate confirmed Scott Pruitt on Friday afternoon as administrator of the EPA, the same agency he sued 14 times in his capacity as Oklahoma Attorney General. He could not be more different than his predecessor, Gina McCarthy.

February 18 - The New York Times

Ghost bike in New York

Mapped: The Ghost Bikes of Chicago

Ghost bikes, sad, silent tribute to those killed while riding bikes, are more controversial than seems possible. The Chicago Tribune has a map that endeavors to track their locations around the Chicago area.

February 18 - Chicago Tribune

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