The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Discussion on increasing user fee revenue has centered on increasing and/or indexing the gas tax and applying VMT fees. Now some are pushing a return of the original user fee - road tolls applied by states or regions on interstate highways.

August 2 - Governing

Over the past 14 years, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron have experienced an unprecedented drop in water levels, and many fear they won't be coming back. In a multi-part series the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel explores the causes and implications.

August 2 - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A decade ago, a power failure in northern Ohio caused a cascading series of outages that knocked out power to 50 million people in the United States and Canada. New tools aim to reduce the chances that such events could happen in the future.

August 2 - The New York Times

In the face of vocal opposition, Vancouver's city council approved a proposed bike route and greenway. For one former councillor, if a third of the speakers in hostile public meetings support a project, that's enough to indicate a silent majority.

August 1 - The Globe and Mail

Barry Bergdoll, the Museum of Modern Art's Chief Curator of Architecture and Design, has announced he is leaving the museum to take up a post at Columbia University. Over six years he curated a number of popular, and critically praised, exhibitions.

August 1 - Architectural Record

Since it was begun in the late 1950's, Paris's La Defense business district 'has always worked better in architectural theory than in anthropological practice,' says Georgi Kantchev. A new plan seeks to humanize the spaces between its tall towers.

August 1 - The New York Times

Strapped for cash, cities across the US have decided to save money by turning off street lights. An investigative series documents the effect of all those darkened lights on crime and economic development in San Diego - home to a $30 million backlog.

August 1 - Fast Company Co.Exist

Recent reports have documented an alarming rise in poverty levels across America. With the federal government cutting funding for social programs serving the poor, cities are stepping into the void by creating anti-poverty centers.

August 1 - Governing

On a recent trip to Portland, land use attorney Bill Adams couldn't help but make comparisons to redevelopment efforts elsewhere. He found 7 tangible areas in which Portland shines through its copious clouds.

August 1 - UrbDeZine.com

While working for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, de Blois helped design some of the most influential office towers of the 20th century. But, when it came time to open one of her signature buildings, she was told not to attend if she was still pregnant.

August 1 - The New York Times

This 16-minute radio interview of Forbes writer Micheline Maynard and Cornell urban planning professor Michael Manville explores how and why to redesign cities to make them less auto-dependent to match reduced driving.

August 1 - Here & Now

A far-fetched proposal for Seaport City - a new landfill neighborhood on the East Side of lower Manhattan - is one step closer to reality with New York City's release of a request for proposals to study the idea.

August 1 - Crain's New York Business

A controversial House bill that proposed drastic spending cuts to Transportation and Housing programs was pulled from the floor yesterday after Republicans balked at supporting the cuts outlined in Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) budget.

August 1 - The Hill

After a long confirmation delay, Gina McCarthy, the new head of the U.S. Environmental Protections Agency, has wasted little time wading into the controversy over the agency's (and administration's) role in addressing climate change.

July 31 - The Washington Post

A new study has quantified how Baron Georges-Eugene Haussmann's plans changed the form and function of Paris - a topic that had previously been open to the subjective analysis of urban theorists. The results might surprise you.

July 31 - BBC

Utilizing an online tool that compares images from Google Street View, researchers have built a better understanding of the 'small, often imperceptible reasons' that make some streets and places feel safer than others.

July 31 - The Atlantic Cities

Two years after Councilman (now Council President) Herb Wesson vowed to allow vegetable gardens to be planted in public parkways to help improve access to fresh food, an 'edible landscape' motion languishes while the city cracks down on homeowners.

July 31 - Los Angeles Times

Ryan Holeywell writes a follow-up to the meeting of a House Transportation subcommittee on the impending insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund - looking at it from the states' perspective rather than from Capitol Hill's. They have a lot at stake.

July 31 - Governing

For years, Beijing's historic homes have been threatened by redevelopment pressures. Now, the building of illegal additions by homeowners looking for affordable ways to expand are causing alarm. For the local government, the solution is demolition.

July 31 - The New York Times

Nancy Levinson, editor of Places Journal, argues that it's time for feminist architects to engage the larger sphere of political activism with concrete objectives.

July 31 - Places Journal