The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Shotgun Homes, New Orleans

New Orleans Mayor Announces Five-Year Affordable Housing Plan

Faced with increasing numbers of residents more than 50 percent of their income on housing costs, the mayor of New Orleans has announced his intentions to build or preserve 7,500 affordable units by 2021.

June 23 - Gambit

Apartment renter

Housing Market 2016 in a Best of Times, Worst of Times Moment

The story of the U.S. housing market is the story of growing inequality.

June 23 - Associated Press via Chicago Tribune

Diablo Canyon Nuclear

The Only Remaining Nuclear Power Plant in California Will Close

In a surprise announcement by Pacific Gas and Electric Company on Tuesday, it was learned that California's only remaining nuclear power plant, Diablo Canyon in San Luis Obispo County along California's central coast, will close in nine years.

June 23 - The (San Luis Obispo) Tribune

Lake Powell

Is Glen Canyon Dam Obsolete?

As climate changes in the Rockies and the southwest, Lake Powell is gradually shrinking. The debate over Glen Canyon Dam is on again, and this time environmentalists aren't the only ones against it.

June 23 - Pacific Standard

YIMBYs

What a Conference for YIMBYs Looks Like

The advocacy group Better Boulder held the YIMBY 2016 conference earlier this month.

June 23 - Next City


Rural Community

Metropolitan Corridors Absorb Rural Counties

As urban economies continue their upward trajectory, residents of counties once considered rural are commuting to cities. This has had both negative and positive effects on the communities in question.

June 22 - StatChat

Are freeway overpasses curtailing public discourse?

Freeway overpasses instead of town squares are now often selected as the preferred public space to promote a non-commercial point of view, but such messaging does little to enhance public discourse, writes planner and urbanist Howard Blackson.

June 22 - UrbDeZine


Mobility

Tips for Transit in the Age of Uber

Hate it or love it, Uber has changed the transportation game across this country. To boost ridership and change its public image, transit should consider taking some cues from the rideshare giant.

June 22 - Market Urbanism

Billboard Flag

Pennsylvania Legislation to Address Billboard Impacts

Residents in towns around Pennsylvania are calling for regulations to better understand and mitigate the impacts of large digital and static billboards.

June 22 - philly.com

Texas Suburb

Op-Ed: The Texas Miracle Won't Last

As economic migration continues to swell its population, Texas has been heralded by some as a new California. But Johnny Sanphillippo argues that the Lone Star State's boom just isn't sustainable.

June 22 - Strong Towns

Los Angeles

West Coast Cities Redefining Height With Batch of New Skyscrapers

The title of tallest building west of the Mississippi, property of the U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles since 1989, will soon go to another building. What does that say about the post-recession of West Coast cities?

June 22 - The Architect's Newspaper

Bus Lane

District DOT Rolls Out the Red Carpet for Bus Transit

Washington, D.C. is the latest place to find traffic lanes emblazoned with a bright red coat of paint to welcome transit while barring cars.

June 22 - BeyondDC

Eminent Domain for Preservation? It's Possible for Palo Alto Mobile Home Park

The city of Palo Alto, the county of Santa Clara, and the Housing Authority of Santa Clara County have joined forces to acquire the 4.5 acre Buena Vista Mobile Home Park, thus saving 117 low-income families from eviction.

June 22 - Palo Alto Online

Is Net-Zero Building Realistic on a Large Scale?

Exploding global population numbers and worries about escalating energy prices, climate change, and energy independence have placed a priority on net-zero building. This article explores the viability of net-zero communities and cities.

June 22 - Blue & Green Tomorrow

All the Ways Section 8 Vouchers Go to Waste

With a lack of suitable rental units and a lack of willing landlords, the city of Pittsburgh provides a case study for the failure of the Housing Choice Voucher Program to live up to its potential.

June 22 - Pittsburg Post-Gazette

great lakes

Milwaukee Suburb Allowed Unprecedented Water Diversion from Lake Michigan

The city of Waukesha will be able to pump water from the Great Lakes to replace its contaminated local ground water supply. It's the first community outside the Great lakes watershed allowed to divert water under terms of the Great Lakes Compact.

June 21 - Chicago Tribune

El Paso

El Paso Stays the Course

El Paso is moving forward with a number of transit projects, toward ambitious goals in mobility, quality of life, and air quality.

June 21 - The Urban Edge

Ohio State

Breaking: Columbus Wins $50 Million 'Smart Cities Challenge' Grant

The U.S. Department of Transportation has revealed the winner of a hotly-contested and widely-reported competitive grant funding opportunity.

June 21 - Columbus Dispatch

Chicago Beach

Summer Is Here—and So Are 'Smart Beaches'

A group of "citizen data scientists" produced a predictive analytic model that offers citizens better information about water quality on beaches along Lake Michigan in Chicago.

June 21 - Data-Smart City Solutions

Ghost Bike

Michigan Tragedy Highlights Dangers of Rural Roads to Cyclists

Five of the nine experienced cyclists who were mowed down by a pickup truck on a rural road in Kalamazoo on June 7 died. While most bike crashes occur on urban roads, there are hidden dangers in biking in uncongested rural areas.

June 21 - The Huffington Post

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