The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

After a stunning financial turnaround and with new political support, MARTA is proposing a massive expansion of commuter rail, with rail links from Atlanta into Fulton and DeKalb counties.

July 23 - Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Some people call it a road-building program. Others call it "an all out war on urbanism."

July 22 - Politico

The city of Philadelphia's Doors and Windows Ordinance applied the Broken Windows Theory to positive results.

July 22 - Pacific Standard

The politics of parking aren't expected to change in the upcoming Houston mayoral election. But an op-ed in the Houston Chronicle is willing to mess with the third rail.

July 22 - Houston Chronicle

A recent op-ed by ULI Foundation Governor and developer John McNellis argues that too many cities are forcing mixed-use developments into neighborhoods, enabling vacancies and blight in the process.

July 22 - Urban Land Magazine

A $250 million project, eight years in the making, returned inpatient hospital care to the neighborhoods of South Los Angeles.

July 22 - Los Angeles Times

The Nashville Metro Transit Authority recently released a "State of the MTA" report, detailing the system's need for additional funding to improve in pace with the needs of a growing populace.

July 22 - The Tennessean

Suburban office parks are achieving the status of ghost towns in the Washington, D.C. area.

July 22 - The Washington Post

The legislature came very close to approving a plan this session to pay for crumbling roads, but the haul in the Republican-controlled House proved too difficult—they adjourned without voting on the Senate plan that passed 20-19 on July 1.

July 22 - Detroit Free Press

Jets no longer run solely on fuel derived from petroleum, thanks in part to Colorado-based Red Rock Biofuels. They signed contracts with FedEx and Southwest Airlines for "renewable jet fuel" that is derived from wood-based biomass.

July 22 - The Denver Post - Business

BLOG POST

The death of the Chicago landscape architect, Peter Schaudt, leaves an unfinished body of work and a deep void within the profession that adored him.

July 22 - Mark Hough

Approval for a $250 million public funding package—split between state, county, and local authorities—is all but assured.

July 21 - Urban Milwaukee

With extra layers of security and a pricing model that differs from other transportation network companies, HopSkipDrive is looking to tap into the crucial "busy parents" demographic.

July 21 - TechCrunch

An age-old of question of infrastructure is up for debate in Frisco, Texas: whether the utility can bear the cost of running electricity lines under the ground.

July 21 - The Dallas Morning News

Japan has pulled the plug on an ambitious stadium plan, expected to cost $2 billion and designed by one of the world's most famous architects.

July 21 - The Guardian

As abstract as the study of philosophy may seem, it has to take place somewhere. Philosophy professor David Kishik posits that cities have influenced the development of philosophical ideas, from Socrates' Athens to William James' New York.

July 21 - New York Times

BLOG POST

This post discusses the argument that even if Airbnb affects an extremely small portion of the rental market, it still matters because of the low vacancy rates of some cities.

July 21 - Michael Lewyn

The Denver Post reports on a growing backlash against urban renewal authority in Colorado.

July 21 - The Denver Post

The origin story of one of the definitively American typologies—the shopping mall—is one of unintended consequences run amok. Could the next chapter of this story come closer to the author's intention?

July 21 - Quartz

An estimated 35,000 gallons of crude spilled from four of 22 toppled tank cars of a 106-car oil train near Culbertson in northeast Montana on July 16. Unlike other oil train derailments, no fiery explosions occurred.

July 21 - Common Dreams