The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

A scheme to transform a Watts housing project with mixed-use development earned final approval from the L.A. City Council on Wednesday. Shops, town homes, and open spaces are to replace "one of the city's most poverty-stricken and violent areas."

August 18 - Los Angeles Times

A scholar and former New York City planner has an interesting idea for improving the financial state of America's often beleaguered public transit systems: let non-profits run them instead of public agencies. Eric Jaffe explains his reasoning.

August 18 - The Atlantic Cities

Chicago has good news to report in its battle to improve access to fresh healthy food. Since Rahm Emanuel became mayor more than two years ago, the number of residents living in food deserts has declined by 21 percent.

August 18 - Chicago Sun-Times

Famed Danish architect Jan Gehl shared his thoughts this week about people-friendly cities, and why we have no option but to build them.

August 18 - Future Cities

BLOG POST

Are children, millenials and baby boomers returning to cities? The best answer: sometimes, sometimes, and maybe not.

August 17 - Michael Lewyn

A new report by the office of City Councilman Brad Lander finds that New York's voluntary inclusionary housing program is failing to entice developers in large numbers, producing only 2,700 permanently affordable units over the past 8 years.

August 17 - The New York Times

A spirit of reflection seems to be in the air across America this summer. Exhibitions in Chicago, the Bay Area, and Los Angeles catalog major projects that were never built and allow visitors to imagine what might have been.

August 17 - The Architect's Newspaper Blog

A new study published this week in the American Journal of Public Health links 18.2 percent of premature deaths in the United States between 1986 and 2006 to obesity, a nearly fourfold increase over what had widely been cited.

August 17 - Los Angeles Times

Andrew Romano explores the ironic fate of the modest mid-century home in the cradle of modernist residential design, where a hot housing market imperils their existence.

August 17 - Newsweek

In what may be the most informative piece of pointillist 'painting' ever made, a demographic researcher has created a zoomable racial map of America made up of 308,745,538 dots. The result is 'strangely beautiful'.

August 17 - The Atlantic Cities

BLOG POST

Planners are futurists, but with less pretension and jargon. Our work requires predicting how current trends are likely to affect future conditions and activities, and how communities should prepare. For example, let's predict self-driving cars.

August 16 - Todd Litman

The battle over who can present the most compelling infographical maps is apparently escalating. The good news, no matter the result, we all win. While these 80 maps may not explain everything, they sure do say a lot.

August 16 - Bored Panda

Authorities have ordered an acupuncture clinic owner and former government advisor to demolish the bizarre addition he's built on top of his 26th-story penthouse apartment. If the description sounds weird, just wait until you see the pictures.

August 16 - South China Morning Post

In bright reds and oranges, a map produced by Data Driven Detroit makes clear how much the city has suffered from decades of suburban flight. Nearly every block of downtown features substantial parking, including a stunning amount of surface lots.

August 16 - DC.Streetsblog

In a wide-ranging poll looking back at the 12-year tenure of Mayor Bloomberg, New Yorkers overwhelmingly approved of his bike/ped and public health programs, but found his attempts to reform the city's schools and ban sugary drinks objectionable.

August 16 - The New York Times

Amid political demagoguery, a bill to help spur infill redevelopment and the creation of affordable housing in California, following the dismantling the state's redevelopment agencies, is advancing through the California legislature.

August 16 - Frying Pan News

LA Times' technology blogger Jon Healy takes a look at Elon Musk's Hyperloop, and after careful analysis, decides he'd bet on a proven, high-speed technology - the same one that inspired Musk to do an all-nighter to draft plans for an alternative.

August 16 - Los Angeles Times - Opinion

What if the people who keep a city running -- including urban planners -- can't afford to live there? An updated database highlights the gap between incomes and housing costs in hundreds of U.S. cities.

August 16 - The Atlantic Cities

They sound too good to be true: houses that remain a comfortable temperature throughout the year without traditional climate control systems. Yet 30,000 such homes have been built in Europe. Why haven't passive houses caught on in the U.S.?

August 16 - The New York Times

Urbanists must adopt less bureaucratic approaches so that the next generation can build and grow the economy, Andres Duany says. Hence the proliferation of “lean” codes that emphasize only the essentials of shaping community.

August 16 - Better! Cities & Towns