The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

BLOG POST

A fascinating new study found that drivers perceive exactly the same things more negatively than those who walk, bike, or take transit. These findings have a few interesting implications.

December 30 - Shane Phillips

The Washington Post editorial pulled no punches. The Highway Trust Fund must be fully funded, meaning that gas taxes must increase in the short term. Furthermore, a transition to a road usage fee is needed, and Rep. Earl Blumenauer's 2 bills do both.

December 30 - The Washington Post - Editorial

A start-up tech company and electric car maker have teamed up to develop a radical car-sharing experiment. Observers are excited about the project's potential to attract urban drivers and improve notoriously poor air quality across China.

December 30 - Forbes

In contrast to much of the United States, where home sizes are growing again following the recession, developers in Southern California are increasingly building attached homes - reversing the region's history of single-family sprawl.

December 30 - The Wall Street Journal

In remarks delivered last week, Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio's choice as New York's deputy mayor for economic development and housing hinted at how the city plans to tackle affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization.

December 30 - Crain's New York Business

Fed up with speeding cars, and a city bureaucracy seen as slow to respond to their complaints, residents and artists in Baltimore have taken it upon themselves to remedy the situation by creating their own traffic calming measures.

December 30 - Baltimore City Paper

BLOG POST

It is time to find better solutions to congestion problems. This requires more comprehensive evaluation in order to identify win-win solutions: the congestion reduction strategies that help achieve other planning objectives.

December 29 - Todd Litman

As young tech talent increasingly calls San Francisco home, some wonder whether investing in large, opulent headquarters in suburban Cupertino is a risky decision for even the most successful tech companies.

December 29 - Wired

Though smoking is on the decline in China, lung cancer rates are rising. Twenty-year olds have joined seniors as likely patients, attributed to the toxic clouds containing particulates that regularly envelope China's eastern cities.

December 29 - Los Angeles Times - World

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reveals why Americans don't use the healthiest, cleanest form of transportation. Hint: it has to do with the frequent injuries we're trying to avoid.

December 29 - The Atlantic Cities

Outgoing mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced that New York’s drivers will soon be able to pay for street parking via their smartphones after a successful pilot project undertaken in the Bronx.

December 29 - Politicker

Many of Poland's older, iconic Communist buildings require major renovations and are seen as unwelcome reminders of a bygone time. But many people see them as historic landmarks that merit preservation.

December 29 - The Economist

A session on urban furniture at the 2013 ASLA Annual Meeting in Boston traced the history of the public bench, from 14th century Tuscan civic benches to 3D modeled seating arrangements that embrace "ergonomically-sound geometries".

December 28 - ASLA The Dirt

Petroleum coke or petcoke, similar to coal, is a nasty though salable byproduct of the oil refining process. Produced from refining tar sands crude in Indiana refineries, it is stored in huge piles in Chicago, blowing dust in the Southeast Side.

December 28 - NPR Morning Edition

Houston's METRORail will triple in size next year, going from 7 to 22 miles. METRO Chairman Gilbert Garcia enthusiastically describes the new 5.3-mile North Line extension and last week's celebration to open it. Two new lines will open next year.

December 28 - KTRK-TV (ABC 13)

Air pollution and traffic are choking China's largest cities: a recent conference reveals that officials are looking to solve these twin transportation problems with economics.

December 28 - StreetsBlog NYC

Next month, Copenhagen starts its year as European Green Capital. We run down five of the reasons it won the title -- with no references to cycling or Jan Gehl.

December 28 - Future Cities

This abbreviation may be coming to other transit elevators if it proves its snuff in Atlanta: UDD, short for Urine Detection Device. The sensors and the camera will force offenders to find appropriate places to relieve themselves, or risk arrest.

December 27 - WSB-TV - Atlanta

After more than a decade of rail successes, the city that leads the nation in per-capita transit spending has experienced a transit setback. Early data for Salt Lake City's first streetcar line indicates much lower-than-expected ridership.

December 27 - The Salt Lake Tribune

By expanding its transit and cycling infrastructure and creating pedestrian-friendly streets, L.A. is improving access to alternative forms of transportation. But in the city's most walkable area, police are out to prove the car is still king.

December 27 - The New York Times