The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Bicycle Plan Leads to Parking Policy Questions in St. Paul
St. Paul is in the community engagement stage of a bike planning process expected to culminate early next year. Among the bike plan's proposals, none have sparked as much controversy as a downtown loop that would remove street parking.
The Georgia Transportation Funding Debate
Georgia's experience emerging from the recession as revenues increase after years of government belt tightening is common around the country. The question now: How to finance the improvements to the state's neglected transportation infrastructure?
Checking in with Jan Gehl
The Guardian ran a long feature examining the life and work of Jan Gehl, well known to planners as the urban "rethinker" behind the movement to design cities and places to the human scale.
Los Angeles Releases Large-Scale Earthquake Preparedness Plan
Los Angeles has been hard at work, under the leadership of Dr. Lucy Jones, to prepare for the ever-present threat of earthquakes. The Office of Mayor Eric Garcetti released the plan, called "Resilience by Design," earlier this week.
Tough Week for Uber on the West Coast—Three Cities File Injunctions
Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Portland all filed suit against Uber recently hoping to bring the transportation network company in conformity with public safety regulations.
Compare the Scale of U.S. Streetcar Systems
Everyone likes a little friendly competition—in this case a Greater Greater Washington post does a side-by-side comparison of all the active streetcar systems in the United States.
Republican Governors, Encouraged by Low Gas Prices, to Raise Gas Taxes
While there may never be a good time to increase the federal gas tax, the same is not true when it comes to state gas taxes—perhaps because governors can't transfer billions of dollars from general funds to pay for roads. Lower gas prices helps.
Street Trees on State Roads Spark Controversy in Louisville
Louisville's goals to plant and grow an urban forest to mitigate the city's heat island effect has run afoul of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's engineering standards for state owned roads.
Bike Parking Minimums Updated in Washington D.C.
Washington D.C. recently revised bike parking requirements for new or rehabilitated residential buildings, building on precedents first set in 2007.
2014's Best and Worst in Architecture and Design
Critics Alexandra Lange and Mark Lamster hand out their annual awards for architecture and design. Snark is on the menu, but the awards still provide a nice recap of the biggest design news from around the country (and some from around the world).
1100-Mile High Speed Rail Route Opens in China—Equivalent to Los Angeles to Seattle
China opened 32(!) new high speed rail routes this week, including a connection between Shanghai and Guanzhou equivalent to a trip between Los Angeles and Seattle.
Friday Eye Candy: 'The Secret Life of Buildings'
The latest edition of The Paris Review includes a portfolio of 16 images by Mark Yankus. The print publication was kind enough to provide a sample of these deeply texture images online.
Growing Suburbs for the Good for the World
The Economist has published a pair of feature articles examining the growth of suburbs around the world in the hopes of avoiding the mistakes of the West.
Calgary: Model of Transit and Automobile Planning Success
Yonah Freemark writes about the remarkable success of the boomtown of Calgary, Alberta—a city described as "a lot more like Dallas or Phoenix than Copenhagen."
High Line Designer Tapped for 'Presidio Point' Project in San Francisco
The landscape architecture firm behind the High Line in New York City has been awarded another high-profile contract—this time for "Presidio Point," overlooking Crissy Field in San Francisco.
BLOG POST
Five Things You Need to Know About E-Bikes—An Urban Transportation Paradigm Shift
When you have a small electric motor, a battery, and a throttle on your bicycle, it becomes very difficult to make any more excuses. Here's why...
North Dakota to Reduce Volatility of Bakken Crude-By-Rail
Bakken crude is considered more volatile than other types of oil, which presents a safety problem when moved by rail. New regulations approved Tuesday require oil producers to separate flammable and volatile liquids prior to shipment by rail.
Ten Provocative Ideas for Bicycling Architecture
Arch Daily presents the ten major ideas to emerge from a "design provocation" for big ideas to push trip share of bike in New York City closer to, and even beyond, the levels of Copenhagen.
Shared Kitchen Space: Best Culinary Innovation since the Food Truck?
Potentially the biggest culinary innovation since the gourmet food truck, L.A. Prep upholds principles of smart growth while supporting culinary entrepreneurs. Artisanal food producers will move into its 50 kitchens starting in January.
Revealed: $400 Million Mixed-Use Development Adjacent to Cobb County Baseball Stadium
The Atlanta Braves Major league Baseball team made a splash last year by deciding to decamp to suburban Cobb County for a new ballpark. Still to be determined: Can the new ballpark spur development and integrate into the community?
City of Clovis
City of Moorpark
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
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.
