The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory recently completed an economic analysis of white roofs versus their green and black counterparts. The debate over the relative merits of white versus green roofs is far from over, however.

February 5 - Inhabitat

FEATURE

A contributing factor to widespread political disengagement? It's not what you might expect. Here's how the daily commute diminishes citizens' interest and ambition to get involved in their communities.

February 5 - Tom Spengler

Andrew Cuthbert responds to a few of the recurring accusations leveled against cyclists as posted on the ‘comments’ section of a Vancouver-based news story involving a cyclist-motorist conflict.

February 5 - Spacing Vancouver

Palo Alto’s planned community zoning has existed since 1951. As the real estate market in the Silicon Valley heats up, residents are questioning whether developers are abusing the density and height benefits they receive from the zoning code.

February 4 - San Jose Mercury News

Advocates presented a compelling case to remove the aging stretch of Interstate 345 that bisects Dallas adjacent to downtown. But state transportation officials have decided to rehab, rather than remove, the freeway.

February 4 - Dallas Morning News

What lifts up to 1,750 tons? Goodbye "Left Coast Lifter". Hello "I Lift New York". The massive crane was barged 6,000 miles through the Panama Canal to begin construction of the replacement Tappan Zee Bridge, having completed the Bay Bridge job.

February 4 - New York Post

Los Angeles recently completed a comprehensive installation of LED streetlights—and New York City is not far behind. Among the unintended consequences of the new technology? Cities will now look completely different on film.

February 4 - No Film School

Hoping to encourage other cities to follow San Francisco's successful application of protected bike lanes, Asm. Phillip Ting (D-S.F.) would have Caltrans "develop minimum safety design criteria" for what would be a new class of bikeways in the state.

February 4 - San Francisco Bay Guardian

Continued service to many cities in New Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas may rest with N.M. Gov. Susana Martinez who has indicated she is unwilling to share in the maintenance costs required by the federal government for a stretch of rail owned by BNSF.

February 4 - The New Mexican

In anticipation of the 2017 Super Bowl, Houston First Corp. is seeking approval of a project to improve the city's convention center and “reshape the once-moribund East End of downtown into a dynamic new focal point of the city.”

February 4 - The Houston Chronicle

An article by Tom Slater takes on several sacred cows of the current planning discussion, most prominently among them what he describes as “the anaesthetising spell of resilience.”

February 4 - OpenDemocracy - OpenSecurity

A new study published in the February issue of Health Affairs presents evidence that providing fresh food in food deserts does not improve diets or health outcomes for residents.

February 4 - National Journal

By allowing the use of a new vehicle safety communication system called V2V, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are hoping to protect drivers without overstepping privacy boundaries.

February 4 - PBS NewsHour - The Rundown

For anyone not a fan of the Seattle Seahawks, the best result of this year's Super Bowl might have been the first-ever regional transit map of New York.

February 3 - Atlantic Cities

The city of San Diego adopted the Barrio Logan plan a few months ago, provoking a successful movement to place a referendum on a future ballot. The city’s mayoral race could hinge on the issue, with large military contractors as political donors.

February 3 - San Diego Reader

Ranking suburbs on metrics of excitement? That’s a zesty response to the suburb-bashing parlance of the times, and the Movoto Real Estate Blog has done just that.

February 3 - Movoto Blog

Do transit stations with sleeker designs boost ridership? Evidence suggests that the answer may be yes. But does that mean that we should spend limited transit funds on better architecture?

February 3 - Atlantic Cities

Rep. Albert Sires (D-N.J.) introduced the New Opportunities for Bicycle and Pedestrian Infrastructure Financing Act of 2014 (H.R. 3978), modeled on TIFIA, to promote investment in bike and pedestrian facilities to make streets safer for all modes.

February 3 - NJ.com

With parking limited around the stadium for yesterday’s Super Bowl, attendees relied on the New York region’s transit system to get to and from the game. After months of worry about the weather, mass transit was the Least Valuable Player on game day.

February 3 - New York Times

As an urbanist, it can be easy to think of gentrification as a macroeconomic trend or a collection of data points, not as an individual experience. A community organizer in Oakland would like to bring the issue home for the city’s newcomers.

February 3 - Oakland Local