The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

In an illustrated essay, Chuck Wolfe contrasts the ideal form of the New England town with an abandoned French village, calling out the human infrastructure essential to successful urban places.

October 8 - myurbanist

Unless these states come to an agreement with Amtrak by Oct. 16 to help subsidize regional rail service, required by the Passenger Rail Investment & Improvement Act of 2008, Amtrak will cease operating them. Agreements were reached with 16 states.

October 8 - Governing

Calling Chicago a "city on the brink", the editors of the Chicago Tribune issue an "RFP" for residents and civic groups to put forth a vision for Chicago that can address its chronic woes, ensure its survival, and inspire people to action.

October 8 - Chicago Tribune

Britain's opposition Labour Party is promising to tackle the country's housing crisis as a centerpiece of its next election campaign. A proposed “use it or lose it” law aimed at forcing developers to build on fallow land is causing controversy.

October 8 - Next City

The New York Times editorial board praises the Sept. 26th decision of the N.J. Supreme Court to uphold the 1983 landmark, affordable housing, anti-exclusionary zoning principles known as Mount Laurel and reject the appeal by Christie and 11 towns.

October 8 - The New York Times - Opinion

The U.S. Census Bureau uses a relatively crude definition of downtowns, complicating comparison between metros and opening up their findings to criticism. A new method of measuring downtowns via heat maps of job density aims to address this problem.

October 8 - The Atlantic Cities

From Austin to Copenhagen, swings of varying shapes and sizes are adding a bit of whimsy, refreshment, and visual interest to urban environments. And they're not just for children!

October 7 - This City Life

After spending $820 million over fifteen years to rebuild 423 lane-miles along Interstate 80 from Auburn to the Nevada state border, Caltrans is finally done with the road project.

October 7 - Sacramento Bee

If high demand cities like Seattle hope to avoid the fate of insanely priced cities like San Francisco, they'll have to do a better job of addressing the housing supply side and stop placing the burden of subsidy on new development.

October 7 - Citytank

Using high definition scanners, digital modeling, and Scan-to-BIM software, consultants and non-profits are helping to restore historic structures following natural disasters, and cataloging treasures before calamity strikes.

October 7 - The Architect's Newspaper

The NAACP is probably not the first advocacy group you think of when it comes to supporting walking and biking. But the civil rights organization encourages increasing physical activity in minority communities to help reduce childhood obesity.

October 7 - DC.Streetsblog

Perkins + Will, the architecture firm behind a new residence hall at Bridgewater State University, have attached an unusual provision to their green design: no mini-fridges or personal microwaves allowed.

October 7 - Treehugger

In what's being called "the largest downtown land acquisition since the recession", six acres of parking lots will be redeveloped as a $750-million mixed-use complex - continuing the astonishing transformation of L.A.'s South Park neighborhood.

October 7 - Los Angeles Times

The Port Authority of Allegheny County is moving forward with plans to remove buses and bus stops from Downtown Pittsburgh in an effort to decrease congestion on the streets and sidewalks. The plan is supported by the presumptive next mayor.

October 7 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Last week, Facebook announced that it is working with a local developer to build a 394-unit housing complex adjacent to its campus in Menlo Park, California.

October 7 - The Wall Street Journal

Although they've been derided by urbanists near and far, Minneapolitans overwhelmingly support the city's Skyways. James Corner Field Operations embraces the skyway system as a key element in its proposal for the city's Nicollet Mall Redesign.

October 7 - Streets MN

Community gardens and small-scale farms could soon start sprouting in California's cities thanks to a new law that allows municipalities to lower property taxes on small plots of land in exchange for at least five years of agricultural use.

October 6 - Los Angeles Times

Based on lessons from recent disasters in Chicago and New York, where lively urban spaces helped communities to survive and recover, Michael Kimmelman suggests that neighborhood libraries could be designed with such a purpose in mind.

October 6 - The New York Times

As cost estimates for California's high-speed rail system have risen, public support for the project has dropped. But desire for the project's predicted benefits remains strong.

October 6 - WNYC: Transportation Nation

A partnership between the NYC Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) and OpenStreetMap is a promising example of the public sector and tech communities working together to improve the accuracy and usability of data sets.

October 6 - MapBox