The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) turned to crowdfunding for a small project that could have big returns in luring bikers to go multi-modal on public transit.

November 13 - Progressive Railroading

Big news out of the Netherlands this week: a Dutch company has installed the world's first solar-powered bike path. But are the system's inefficiencies worth its costs?

November 13 - Vox

In a bid to urbanize its vast interior, China plans to settle one of its vast pre-built cities with workers unused to city life. Upon arrival, they undergo training to become instant urbanites.

November 13 - The Guardian

New York will invest $46 million in an aesthetically pleasing and functional addition to its streets—2,000 bioswales that absorb stormwater and provide a lush sidewalk garden.

November 13 - Inhabitat NYC

The Ridescore system grades cities for their regulatory friendliness to hired drivers—transportation network companies, taxis, and limos. Washington D.C. offers the most friendly regulations for hired drivers, Las Vegas the least.

November 12 - R Street Institute Press Release

Thanks to voters, at least $1.2 billion in oil and gas taxes a year that would normally have been directed to the state's Rainy Day Fund is diverted to the highway fund, where it will be used to improve the state's crumbling road infrastructure.

November 12 - Newsradio 1200 WOAI

A surprise, groundbreaking agreement between China and the United States was unveiled in Beijing at the end of the APEC conference, providing hope that the world can reduce the threat from climate change.

November 12 - NPR

Suburban Paris plays host to a disturbing trend: no comfortable public spaces for women, especially for women from immigrant and low-income groups.

November 12 - Citymetric

BLOG POST

The recent growth in civic innovation in city halls throughout the country has led to taxpayer investment in private sector organizations addressing social issues, but do these programs really lead to tangible, broad, citizen benefit?

November 12 - Maayan Dembo

FEATURE

Anaheim's packing house signals a new trend with deep roots.

November 12 - John Woodhead

Local governments along the route Southwest Light Rail line in the suburbs of the Twin Cities are anticipating the route by studying and creating plans to accommodate transit oriented development.

November 12 - Finance & Commerce

Pittsburgh will attempt to spur economic development and streamline the city's permitting and code enforcement process by reorganizing the Bureau of Building Inspection.

November 12 - Pittsburg Post-Gazette

Chris Bentley reports on the developments around Milwaukee's lakefront area, especially in response to a streetcar route proposed in September 2014.

November 12 - The Architect's Newspaper

A recent article reveals the inconspicuous nature of the city—an ecosystem, "pipes and all."

November 12 - The Boston Globe

Jason Segedy has published a long, brutally frank look at blight and vacant properties, especially at the underappreciated culprit for the woes of so many shrinking cities around the Rust Belt: household decline.

November 11 - Notes from the Underground

A revised proposal for the "Portland Street Fund," announced this week by the city's political leadership, aims to balance the needs of advocates of alternative transportation and that of the city's business community.

November 11 - Bike Portland

A PeopleforBikes post explains why the crowdfunding model made sense for a proposed project by the Downtown Denver Partnership to create a protected bike lane on Arapahoe Street.

November 11 - People for Bikes

With anticipated rising global temperatures, the need to cool our homes will take a massive toll on our electrical grid, which a team of masters students aims to address with their new wall insulation.

November 11 - Fast Co.Exist

A recent festival of ideas called Uncharted proved to be an inspirational, learning experience for Bay Area architect Sandhya Sood, AIA, principal of Accent Architecture+Design. At the end of it, writes Sood, her “brain cells were dancing. Again.”

November 11 - UrbDeZine

In 2012, Oklahoma City lost one million pounds by going on a citywide diet. Now it plans to keep the weight off by funding and building a more active, less car-centric city.

November 11 - Urbanful