The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

State Bill Would Add TIFs Along Transit Lines in Chicago

Expanded use of tax increment financing is on the table in Chicago—a city that invests less than its peers on building and running transit.

May 12 - Chi.Streetsblog

ULI Takes the Country's Pulse with 'America in 2015' Report

With the recently released America in 2015 report, the Urban Land Institute undertakes a broad survey to discover what Americans are looking for in their communities.

May 12 - Next City

Controversial Housing Moratorium Proposed for San Francisco's Mission District

San Francisco Supervisor David Campos, who represents the popular Mission District, has proposed a 45-day moratorium on market-rate, multifamily residential development. A ballot measure is possible.

May 12 - San Francisco Examiner

Street Market

The Promise of Pop-Up Placemaking

With the support of its executive leadership, Adelaide, Australia's experimentalist city council has encouraged ephemeral projects to enliven streets. "Splash Adelaide" projects can even override council policy.

May 12 - Citiscope

Household Solar Popularity Builds, As Does Utility Industry Discomfort

Utilities and regulators should be looking forward, not backward, to find ways to invest in progress, rather than trying desperately to cling to yesterday's business model, which is based on encouraging consumption of polluting sources of energy.

May 12 - PlaceShakers


Complete Streets

Bike Lanes Help Sidewalks, Too

A growing body of evidence shows that bike lanes put more people on bikes while also helping those people on bikes stay off sidewalks. The latest example: Honolulu.

May 11 - People for Bikes

Planners Reboot Public Health Efforts in South Los Angeles

A law passed to combat obesity and diabetes in South Los Angeles by slowing the proliferation of fast food restaurants has done little to change the landscape of the area.

May 11 - Los Angeles Times


Concerns Raised Over Property Tax for Minneapolis' Nicollet Mall Renovation

A debate over a special property tax assessment to fund a James Corner-designed redo of Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis raises questions about public benefit and value capture.

May 11 - MinnPost

Los Angeles Metrolink to Relieve Caltrain on the Crowded San Francisco Peninsula

The San Francisco to San Jose Caltrain commuter rail line continues to set ridership records, but capacity has not increased, much to riders' chagrin. Starting today, four train sets will add a sixth car, courtesy of Metrolink commuter rail.

May 11 - San Mateo Daily Journal

Regulation Not Keeping Pace with the Popularity of Drones

The use drones for planning and its related fields has obvious and immediate potential. So far, however, the use of drones lacks a coherent regulatory framework.

May 11 - ZwillGen

Bay Bridge Construction Woes Raise Earthquake Safety Concerns

One of the reasons for the $6.4 billion investment in the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge was to ensure the safety of the bridge in the even of a large earthquake.

May 11 - San Francisco Chronicle

Seattle Mixed Use Development

Seattle Densification Strategy: Build Apartments Without Parking

Not just any apartments, only those served by frequent transit. Developers will still have a "mobility" requirement: In lieu of a parking space, they'll need to provide tenants with transit passes and memberships in car and bikeshare services.

May 11 - KIRA 7

Surveying the Biking Gender Gap

A survey of the relevant studies, articles, and ideas about why women ride bikes so much less than men.

May 11 - Urbanful

Downtown Houston

BLOG POST

When States Should Blow the Whistle

States regulate local governments too much in some areas, but not enough in others.

May 11 - Michael Lewyn

Kid on Bus

The Key to Escaping Poverty: Transportation

A recent study that connected place to opportunity also includes findings about the factor most likely to influence economic success: access to transportation.

May 11 - New York Times - The Upshot

San Francisco Launching Raised Bike Lane Program

The city's Municipal Transportation Agency will construct a block of raised bike lane on Valencia Street as a showcase for more such projects to come.

May 10 - CityLab

New App Shares Connected Car Data to Government, Businesses

This is what "smart cities" technology looks like: A new product called Inrix Insights offers planners and businesses a platform by which to access the data created by the use of connected cars.

May 10 - ITProPortal

Public Review Underway for Pittsburgh BRT Proposal

The public is getting a chance to respond to the idea of building a bus rapid transit line along a heavily traveled corridor between Pittsburgh and Oakland to the east.

May 10 - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Trees Dying by the Millions During California's Drought

A U.S. Forest Service survey has revealed the high costs of the California drought to one of the state's most treasured features: its sprawling forests.

May 10 - KPBS

Clara Meer

Atlanta Beltline Symbolizes Efforts to Reverse Tide of Sprawl

Famously far-flung Atlanta is finding a comforting psychic barrier in the BeltLine, a 45-mile greenbelt in the place of former railroad tracks. The city and developers are trying to make the urban core more functional and attractive.

May 10 - The Architect's Newspaper

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