The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

First State Legislature to Regulate Uber and Lyft: Colorado

Ivan Moreno reports for the Associated Press on the Colorado Legislature's approval of a bill to regulate transportation network companies like Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar.

May 21 - AP via Denver Post

Among Fastest Growing Cities, Austin's Decline in African-American Population is Unique

Austin has experienced spectacular rates of growth in recent decades, growing by more than 20 percent between 2000 and 2010. Among quickly growing cities, however, Austin was the only that also saw a decline in African-American population.

May 21 - KUT

Vote for America's 'Least Crossable Streets'

We were told to look both ways before crossing the street—not walk two miles, uphill both ways, in the snow before crossing the street.

May 21 - Streetsblog USA

Congress' Head-in-the-Sand Approach to Fire Management

The way Congress has appropriated funds for the prevention of forest fires, and fighting forest fires when they occur, guarantees that they will become more costly and dangerous in the future.

May 21 - Vox

Think Lead Was Removed from Fuel? Think Again!

Leaded gasoline is still sold in Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Myanmar, North Korea, and Yemen. Most think that the brain-damaging additive was banned in the U.S in 1995, but not for 167,000 piston-engined aircraft that use leaded aviation fuel.

May 21 - Chicago Tribune


Seattle City Council Votes to Limit Small Lot Development

After the Seattle City Council voted to approve new small lot zoning regulations this week, the decision was hailed as a victory for neighborhood interests. The city had placed a moratorium on small lot development in September 2012.

May 21 - Seattle Times

Aggravated 15 Year Olds as a Measure of Place

Is there nowhere in your town to teach a kid to drive? Congratulations. You may be on to something.

May 21 - PlaceShakers


New Orleans Fire Truck

Does the Fire Code Have to Trump Urban Design?

Planners and urbanists are familiar with the many instances when fire and life safety codes conflict with quality urban design. The city of San Francisco is currently embroiled in policy conflict over the width of its streets.

May 21 - CityLab

Location as Currency: Mapping Apps Will Optimize Indoor Navigation

"Location is the new cookie," says Simon Thompson of Esri, referencing the software in a browser that tracks the websites people visit. Meet the new apps making it happen.

May 21 - New York Times

Civic Engagement

FEATURE

5 Innovative Tech Solutions for Civic Disengagement

Communities have a growing number of technological resources available to face the challenges posed by a growing population and a resource constrained world.

May 20 - Tom Spengler

Exploring Dallas' Architectural Boneyard

The Dallas Boneyard is a mecca for those with architectural salvage inclinations—not to mention a delightful collection of curiosities from the city's architectural past.

May 20 - Dallas Morning News

Kerfluffle Over Green Building Rating Systems

The latest dust up over green building rating systems, especially their efficacy relative to each other, highlights the danger of mixing the ideals of environmentalism with the self-interest of running an environmentalist organization.

May 20 - Ecobuilding Pulse

On the Importance of 'Legacy Architecture' to Good Places

Following a recent study finding quantifiable economic benefits for neighborhoods with a mix of older buildings, a writer describes the qualities of older buildings that makes the places they occupy feel so special.

May 20 - Huffington Post

Chicago El

High Profile Opposition to Chicago Transit Authority's Flyover Project

A Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic invokes the most influential planning battles in the country's history in critiquing the proposed Red-Purple Bypass Project sought by the Chicago Transit Authority and Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

May 20 - Chicago Tribune

The Cambridge Tree Map Provides Data on Blossoms and Pollen

"What does a city look like drawn in trees?" Cambridge, Massachusetts recently released an exhaustive database of all the trees on public property around the city.

May 20 - The Boston Globe

Mileage Fees Make Inroads in California and Michigan

Vehicle-miles-traveled fees made inroads with a potential "no-fee" pilot program in California and a new academic study in Michigan concluding that the state should adopt them. VMT fees may even get some attention in the MAP-21 Reauthorization.

May 20 - San Gabriel Valley Tribune

The Fundamental Responsibility of Architects

On Places, Reinhold Martin explores the theme of this year's Venice Architecture Biennale.

May 20 - Places Journal

Does New York City Need More Bank Branches?

The question: "Why are there so many damn banks? Why did we even download this sweet banking app that's supposed to do everything short of pushing cash out of the headset jack?"

May 20 - Gothamist

The gentrifying street-scape of the South Park neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles, California

Multi-Family Driving Recovery in Housing Starts

New residential construction data released by the U.S. Census reveals that the construction of traditional, single-family detached housing will retain its diminished role in the American economy for the time being.

May 20 - New York Times - The Upshot

Millennial Crowd

Are Millennials Hiding in their Parents' Basements?

Recent studies have found that trends born of the Great Recession have left Millennials stuck in place. A recent article places the current milieu in context by comparing historic rates of mobility.

May 19 - Bloomberg View

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