The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

There is already good evidence that exposure to green landscapes is good for people. The next frontier of research in the health impacts of designed environments is to be able to quantify connections between design decisions and life expectancy.

June 11 - ASLA The Dirt

Research out of UC Berkeley shows that car sharing lowers all customers' vehicle mileage by about a quarter over time.

June 11 - San Francisco Bay Guardian

Kevin Roose wonders whether "choosing to live outside a major city is tantamount to opting to live in the past."

June 11 - New York Magazine

Tampa has hired Denver-based Civitas to lead the planning effort in the sorely-needed renovation of Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park. Mayor Bob Buckhorn supports the plan to renovate the 23-acre waterfront park.

June 11 - Tampa Bay CL

While pedestrian safety affects all areas, it disproportionately affects cities with large minority populations because they are more likely to walk than whites. Santa Ana, Calif. a majority "minority" city, is taking steps to make walking safer.

June 11 - Aljazeera America

Stanley Kurtz reports that Congressman Paul Gosar (R-Arizona) "is planning to offer" an amendment to the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Bill that would declaw the Obama Administration's proposed "AFFH" rule.

June 11 - National Review Online

Cincinnati’s Department of Planning and Buildings was awarded the grand prize for "Best Planning Tool or Process" at the Congress for the New Urbanism's national conference last week. The award is just the latest in a string of commendations.

June 11 - UrbanCincy

CityLab provides an in-depth analysis of the planning efforts surrounding the D.C. Metro's forthcoming Silver Line in Tysons Corner, Virginia. At stake, according to the article: "the future of the American suburb as we know it."

June 11 - CityLab

Chicago officials hope that nearly 5 percent of the city's commutes will be by bike in 2020. The goal requires a lot more work (biking's share of daily trips rose to 1.3 percent in 2012 from 0.5 percent in 2000), but there are many signs of a shift.

June 11 - Chicago Tribune

FEATURE

America’s multi-lane one-way streets are a disaster for neighborhoods. A recent study, released at the International Making Cities Livable Conference and led by John Gilderbloom, finds benefits to converting such streets to two-way traffic flows.

June 11 - John Gilderbloom

A new report, the first of its kind, documents the pervasive harassment experienced by women, and many men, of all races, income levels, sexual orientations, and geographic locations. The report identifies the situation as an issue of human rights.

June 10 - The Washington Post

An out-of-towner's visit to New Orleans unravels imposed assumptions about conduct in public places.

June 10 - Pacific Standard

President Obama has signed "a bipartisan $12.3 billion water bill that will help improve harbors, waterways, levees, and ecosystems across the United States," according to an article by Adie Tomer and Joseph Kane.

June 10 - Brookings: The Avenue

All taxes are not equally disliked—some are more tolerated than others. Jack Craver of The Cap Times examines an academic poll and speaks with policy makers and one advocate about the least objectionable options to pay for roads in Wisconsin.

June 10 - The Cap Times

The conversion of San Francisco’s Presidio military base to parkland is reviewed by Los Angeles County park planner Clement Lau.

June 10 - UrbDeZine

Aaron M. Renn has written a scathing review of the state of affairs in Rhode Island, which he describes as a result of decades of unfettered "blue state" policies.

June 10 - City Journal

While regulated on the federal level, there is still much that can be done on a state level, including adding per-barrel fees to pay for cleanup plans. Plus, a new regulation took effect requiring railroads to notify states about Bakken crude trains.

June 10 - Los Angeles Times

A Dallas News editorial supports the Dallas Integrated Trail Circuit—a plan to link existing trails in the city into a 250-mile continuous loop.

June 10 - Dallas News

A new post by Vox includes 40 maps, charts, and graphs explain that where and how food works in America.

June 10 - Vox

BLOG POST

With increasing skepticism and conflict towards planners and planning projects, we must ask ourselves: Is the power and politics now vested in "community participation" undermining the planning profession?

June 10 - Reuben Duarte