The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Will California gas station see queues at their pumps on Dec. 31 as motorists seek their last fill-up before gas prices soar 15 cents per gallon, as AB 69 supporters warned? The bill died in the state legislature on August 22.

August 29 - Los Angele Times

Yonah Freemark writes of the value of infill stations—new transit stations built on existing lines—for increasing transit ridership. Somerville, outside of Boston, will provide the latest example when it opens a station on the Orange Line next week.

August 29 - the transport politic

A plan to shut down streets around Cleveland's Public Square and make it a pedestrian friendly civic space has prompted many commenters to call for revisions to the plan, especially with regard to the square's heavy bus transit capacity.

August 29 - The Plain Dealer

St. Petersburg is one of those lucky few cities granted the benefits of a downtown waterfront setting in a warm climate. But what will that waterfront look like in the future?

August 29 - Tampa Bay Times

Angie Schmitt follows up on an earlier report by the Citizen's Budget Commission that made an argument for the affordability of cities like New York City, with its large network of cheap transportation.

August 29 - Streetsblog USA

Buildings constructed of unreinforced masonry get much if not most of the media's attention on seismic safety, but so-called 'soft story' wood buildings, often with garages on the ground floor, compose the greatest numbers of vulnerable buildings.

August 28 - San Francisco Chronicle

A Guardian Cities article examines bus rapid transit—especially of the variety delivered by the likes Jaime Lerner and Enrique Peñalosa—on its merits as an "urban panacea."

August 28 - Guardian Cities

David Conde discusses the new reality taking hold in traditionally Latino neighborhoods on the Northside of Denver, especially the reactions to the name for the area adopted by newcomers: the Highlands.

August 28 - La Voz

When former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro began his new job as secretary of HUD, the all-but-built Modern Streetcar project fell prey to gathering Tea Party forces.

August 28 - The Texas Observer

A proposed ordinance currently making its way through City Hall in Los Angeles would provide a new form of enforcement for crimes such as barking dogs, loud parties, and littering—which often go unenforced under the current penal system.

August 28 - Los Angeles Daily News

Matthew Yglesias lets us peek behind the curtain of those viral maps that reveal difference between states. Hiding behind these maps is a dirty little secret about how little variation there is in America.

August 28 - Vox

The controversial Bay Delta Conservation Plan, in the works for seven years, has been placed on hold again. According to officials with the state Department of Resources, the delay comes in response to comments on the project's draft EIR.

August 28 - Sacramento Bee

The Southwest Corridor light-rail project appeared before the Minneapolis City Council last week, which prompted James Linbeck to write a scathing op-ed in opposition to the project.

August 28 - Minneapolis Star Tribune

The American Institute of Architects conferred its top award—the Gold Medal—posthumously to Julia Morgan in December 2013, making her the first woman to receive the honor.

August 28 - The Planning Report

Plan 2040 is the Atlanta region's plan to accommodate about 3 million new residents in the next 25 years. A new survey is looking for feedback about just how the region should approach that staggering growth.

August 28 - Curbed Atlanta

Although, in its current computerized form, bike share began in France in 1998, giving Europe a substantial head start, nothing compares to the size of China's programs.

August 27 - Vox

"The St. Louis region doesn’t face the prospect, as Western states do, of running out of water," according to Jacob Barker. But the region is facing a water problem: "aging infrastructure and capital spending that isn’t keeping up."

August 27 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Pete Saunders, blogger with the Corner Side Yard and professional planning consultant, wrote a post explaining Chicago for the U.K. publication Guardian Cities.

August 27 - Guardian Cities

The path to a distributed solar future just got clearer in California, thanks to new bill approved by the State Legislature and awaiting Governor Jerry Brown's signature.

August 27 - Los Angeles Times

Reflecting a series of recent initiatives by city leadership in Houston to promote bike safety and road diets, a vehicle lane will soon be removed and handed over to bikers in Downtown Houston.

August 27 - Houston Chronicle