The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Allegheny County officials have embarked on an experiment to allow companies to drill for oil and gas below one of the county's eight parks. Whether operations expand beyond the initial test site remains to be seen.

June 25 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A "cease-and-desist letter" was sent June 23 to MonkeyParking, a Rome-based tech startup that developed and markets an app that allows motorists to auction public parking spaces beginning at $5. The city attorney demanded shut-down by July 11.

June 25 - San Francisco Chronicle

The rivalry between Dallas and Houston is well known, but Dug Begley recently made a compelling comparison between the two cities: their approach to commuter rail.

June 25 - Houston Chronicle

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has revealed its annual list of the most endangered places in the country. See anything you might miss when it's gone and can never come back?

June 25 - National Trust For Historic Preservation

FEATURE

Research across a range of fields is beginning to offer useful new guidance for planning policy and practice—and pointing the way to more effective "bottom-up" strategies.

June 25 - Michael Mehaffy

Dan Saffer asks us to consider the traffic light—and there's plenty to think about.

June 24 - Wired

June is "Lane Courtesy Month," and Vox used the occasion to describe the sometimes counter-intuitive reasons why drivers should refrain from driving in the left lane except when passing.

June 24 - Vox

A tech columnist reviews the current state of smart home technology and finds that improvements will be necessary before widespread adoption can be expected.

June 24 - The Wall Street Journal

The New York City Rent Guidelines Board is one of the few ways Mayor Bill de Blasio can influence the price of housing in the city. All sides came away wanting when the board approved a historically low increase.

June 24 - New York Times

The SFPark two-year pilot has concluded, and the city recently released comprehensive data that make a good case for its success in almost every possible metric of parking management. Now can the city expand the program?

June 24 - S.F. Streetsblog

Baltimore's first test of the EcoDistrict green neighborhood program was enabled by a lawsuit that delayed the State Center redevelopment project for four years.

June 24 - Baltimore Sun

Two down, two to go. Rarely has a regional transportation/land use plan been sued by so many diverse groups. Environmentalists settled with Bay Area regional planning agencies with assurances that the 2017 plan will better account for GHG reductions.

June 24 - Contra Costa Times

Emily Badger focuses on the signifier at the middle of the ongoing battle between taxi companies and transportation network companies like Uber, Lfyt, and Sidecar—the taxi medallion.

June 24 - The Washington Post - Wonkblog

Anthony Flint examines the commonalities—and disparities—in the historic legacies of Frederick Law Olmsted and Robert Moses.

June 24 - CityLab

Although transport planners consider traffic congestion economically harmful, economic productivity tends to increase with congestion and decline with increased road supply. This paradox can be explained by more nuanced analysis of accessibility.

June 24 - The Vancouver Sun

Pedestrian safety in Philadelphia is a mixed bag. While it can often be a pleasant, pedestrian-friendly city, recent pedestrian deaths have highlighted the ongoing need to improve the safety of the Philadelphia's sidewalks and streets.

June 23 - Philadelphia Inquirer

Los Angeles County Planner Clement Lau continues his case for proclaiming the City of Angels as the museum capital of the United States.

June 23 - UrbDeZine

Washington D.C. is experiencing a "rush" on new construction of renovated townhouses or "pop-ups," which many say do not fit the character of the neighborhoods where they tend to proliferate.

June 23 - Washington Post

In a 5-4 decision on June 23, the Supreme Court ruled that EPA erred in the permitting processes for new carbon-cutting rules. However, most of the Clean Power Plant rule that reduces emissions 30 percent will not be affected.

June 23 - Los Angeles Times

Louisville, like many other cities around the country, has been working hard to reduce the number of abandoned buildings. Recent efforts have provided the city with a new road map for blight reduction.

June 23 - The Courier-Journal