The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

''D.C.'s High Line" Could Transform the Banks of the Anacostia

The proposed elevated park across the Anacostia would be a first for D.C. The group backing it has launched a national design competition to design a bridge that fosters economic development, promotes community health, and cleans the river.

April 2 - Elevation DC

Climate Change Harms People, not just Polar Bears, Warns IPCC in Exhaustive Report

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a follow-up report to another in September that focused on the cause of climate change. The report released Monday focuses on the disruption that climate change will cause human society.

April 2 - Slate

Port Authority Funds Diverted to New Jersey Roads and Bridges

As an alternative to raising the nation's second lowest gas tax (but lacking Alaska's oil wells), The Record found that Gov. Christie diverted toll revenue from the Port Authority and used them for state-owned facilities such as the Pulaskie Skyway.

April 2 - The Record

'People Habitat': Kaid Benfield Takes Smart Growth to a Higher Level

Kaid Benfield has a new book out, which Scott Doyon found positively uplifting. In ways beyond what you might be thinking.

April 2 - PlaceShakers

Two Brothers Walk to School

Walkability and the Risk of Mortgage Default

A recent study strengthens the economic case for walkable communities, finding a strong inverse relationship between walkscore and risk of mortgage default.

April 2 - Community Builders Blog


Charting the 'Urban Shift' Among Technology Start-Ups

Once upon a time, tech start-ups located almost exclusively in the suburbs. New data reveals the extent to which this pattern has been reversed.

April 2 - Atlantic Cities

What's Wrong With Walk Score's Food Desert Map

Walk Score’s new food desert map is a potentially powerful tool in the ongoing policy debate about access to healthy foods. But it’s still a work in progress.

April 2 - Next City


Nightmare

Top Ten Fake Futures Most Likely to Destroy Planning As We Know It

The following is a list things that are never going to happen, because if they did, urban planning as we know it would cease to exist.

April 1 - Planetizen April 1st Edition

Nome, Alaska to Lower 48: What Polar Vortex?

The residents and government of the city of Nome, Alaska are unimpressed with the whining they heard this winter.

April 1 - Planetizen April 1st Edition

Brawl

Bar Brawl Breaks Out Over Kelo v. City of New London

A brawl began after a disagreement over the nuances of the Supreme Court case that protected the power of the government to use eminent domain to transfer ownership of private property for the purposes of economic development.

April 1 - Planetizen April 1st Edition

Pets.com Employee Shuttle Has Been Circling San Francisco Since 2000

Residents say an old Pets.com employee shuttle still drives the streets of San Francisco, seemingly at random. The driver, a mystery to all, emerges from the shuttle occasionally to buy a burrito and a Chronicle. But no one ever sees his face.

April 1 - Planetizen April 1st Edition

Don't Tell Me What Happens in The Death and Life of Great American Cities

I am trying to get caught up on The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs. I'm a chapter behind, so don't tell me what happens.

April 1 - Planetizen April 1st Edition

Ballot Initiative Would Split California into Fractals

It’s a surreal response to a surreal proposal: How many different ways can California be divided?

April 1 - Planetizen April 1st Edition

Don Draper

Ray LaHood to Guest Star on Final Season of Mad Men

The former Secretary of Transportation will join the popular AMC show Mad Men to play a moderate Republican who works across the aisle to deliver badly needed improvements to the nation’s transportation infrastructure.

April 1 - Planetizen April 1st Edition

Hollywood

Study: Hollywood Endings Most Likely in Los Angeles

A new study sheds light on why it seems that the sun shines 366.25 days a year in Los Angeles but falls short of solving one of life's great mysteries.

April 1 - Planetizen April 1st Edition

Study Examines the Evolution of the New York Minute

A new study examines the widely reported effect of the “New York Minute,” claiming that the new multi-modal nature of New York City’s streets has harkened the obsolescence of previously stated definitions of the non-standard measure of time.

April 1 - Planetizen April 1st Edition

Not in my back yard

NIMBY Added to the Oxford English Dictionary

The definitive dictionary of the English language, the Oxford English Dictionary, will add the term NIMBY to its latest edition, citing the widespread use and worldwide political relevance of the term as reasons for its inclusion.

April 1 - Planetizen April 1st Edition

Examining the United States’ Urban/Rural Dichotomy

Governing presents a special series examining the “Rural/Urban Divide” in the United States.

March 31 - Governing

New Study Tests Assumptions About Housing Vouchers and Crime

A new paper published in the Urban Studies journal finds a weak, negative relationship between vouchers and violent crime rates. There is no observable relationship between vouchers and violent crime rates in suburban areas.

March 31 - Urban Studies

Proposed Transit Fare Increase Provokes Strong Opposition in Los Angeles

More than 500 “activists, students and low-wage workers” spent their Saturday at a public hearing at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority imploring the agency’s board not to raise fees.

March 31 - Los Angeles Times

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