The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

New Book Proposes Safety Measures for Fracking

Written by Wall Street Journal energy reporter Russell Gold, the new book offers three recommendations that should be acceptable to all parties, from fracking's strongest supporters to its most ardent opponents.

April 10 - The Wall Street Journal

Boston Subway Tremont Construction

FEATURE

The Original Big Digs

The gridlock in American cities today doesn't compare to the crush on streets in Boston and New York City in the mid- to late-1800s. In The Race Underground, Doug Most chronicles the occasionally synchronous development of the nation’s first subways.

April 10 - Josh Stephens

'Urban Experiential Displays' Proposed for Philadelphia’s Center City

An outdoor advertising company has crafted legislation, expected for City Council review, to allow electronic displays at seven locations in Center City.

April 9 - Philadelphia Business Journal

What Does Citi Bike Data Reveal About New York City?

A website called I Quant NY has produced a string of posts examining recent ridership data released by Citi Bike. The visualizations and maps produced by the site make a good case for the value of open data.

April 9 - I Quant NY

Development Fails the Public Opinion Polls

A recent article for PlannersWeb called “10 Things You Should Know About How the Public Feels About Development” provides helpful data and insight into the type of opposition encountered whenever new development projects face public scrutiny.

April 9 - PlannersWeb


Debating Proposition 1: Funding Transit in Seattle’s King County

“Vote no on Proposition 1, and send King County government a message that Metro has more work to do on righting its cost structure before asking voters for more revenue,” says an editorial from the Seattle Times.

April 9 - Seattle Times

My Kid, the Wikipedia Entry

If you want to be profiled in Wikipedia, it is better to be born in an urban place.

April 9 - Better! Cities & Towns


Making the Case for the Redevelopment of Nicollet Mall

Some call it “Minnesota’s Main Street,” but Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis has been the subject of much debate as the city mulls a redevelopment plan for the mall designed by James Corner Field Operations.

April 9 - MinnPost

High Line Crowds

Amanda Burden Gives TED Pitch for Public Space

Amanda Burden amassed quite a track record during her tenure as planning commissioner for New York City, like rezoning 40 percent of the city. In a recent Ted talk, however, Burden concentrated on the details that make for successful public spaces.

April 9 - TED

EVs, Carpool Lanes, and Affirmative Action: Where's the Connection?

Call it the factionalization of retribution politics in California. When Asian American Democrats dropped their support for an affirmative action measure for education, African American and Latino Dems responded, and new Volt owners lose.

April 9 - The Sacramento Bee

Road Construction

BLOG POST

Trends to Watch in Planetizen’s Top Posts

We post a lot of articles here at Planetizen, and the traffic created by you, our audience, provides valuable feedback about the ideas and places of interest to the planning and urbanism community.

April 9 - James Brasuell

Crowd

Watch the U.S. Population Grow Over Time

Movoto turned U.S. population density maps into an animated gif to show how the population has expanded over time.

April 9 - Movoto Blog

The Secrets to Hubway’s Bikeshare Success

Bikeshare programs have met varied degrees of success in North America. Boston’s Hubway, the result of a public-private partnership, is turning a profit entering its fourth year. What's its secret?

April 8 - Boston Globe

After Distracted Driving Crashes Increase, Texas Amplifies ‘Talk, Text, Crash’

The Texas Department of Transportation is responding to a recent increase in the number crashes caused by distracted driving in the state by increasing the presence of a multi-media campaign aimed at changing behavior.

April 8 - Dallas Morning News

Latest to Open the Roads to Driverless Cars: Washington D.C.

Following actions by the federal government and a few states, the nation’s capital recently published a set of rules regulating the operation of driverless cars.

April 8 - WAMU

More on the High Cost of Infrastructure

A recent editorial in Atlantic Cities laments the regulations and policies that have, according to the author, driven up the costs of infrastructure investments in the United States.

April 8 - Atlantic Cities

Housing Policy Repair for a New Era: Let’s Review

Communities across the U.S. are increasingly frustrated at the persistence of mid-20th-century thinking about housing among local leaders even in the face of a mountain of 21st-century evidence that times have changed.

April 8 - PlaceShakers

Oil, Oil Everywhere, But How to Tap?

At 15 billion barrels, California's Monterey Shale is said to hold the nation's largest deposit of recoverable oil. The only problem is that its extraction has not proven to be economically profitable. Blame it on the shale's unique structure.

April 8 - Los Angeles Times

Willamette Falls

Can Access to Willamette Falls Spur Urban Renewal?

State and local officials in Oregon have launched a planning process to develop a public access esplanade to Willamette Falls in Oregon City. City planners could center urban renewal plans around what is expected to be a popular tourist destination.

April 8 - The Oregonian

Toronto from my room

Website Says 'Yes In My Back Yard'

A website called New York YIMBY is run by a 23-year-old New Yorker named Nikolai Fedak. The site, and Fedak’s pro-development ethos, was recently detailed in the New York Times.

April 8 - New York Times

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