The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Planners and environmentalists have applauded the seven-year decline in America's auto ownership levels with understandable enthusiasm. But around the world, automobile production has never been higher.

July 9 - DC.Streetsblog

Thanks to private funds, NYC invested six times more in building and improving its parks during Mayor Bloomberg's tenure than was spent in the prior decade. But what will happen to these parks when their billionaire backer leaves office?

July 9 - The Wall Street Journal

Chuck Wolfe's photoshoot in the Palouse region of southeastern Washington State shows the timeless issues of human settlement, from agrarian to urban.

July 9 - The Huffington Post

In an in-depth article, Robert Samuels examines the "oversights, missteps and missed opportunities" that have turned the New Communities Initiative - imagined as "the centerpiece of the District’s affordable-housing efforts" - into a train wreck.

July 9 - The Washington Post

This just in: Neighborhood Units missing in action as cities continue to attempt 3D governance using 2D laws. Howard Blackson argues why Neighborhood Units are the key element to placemaking.

July 9 - PlaceShakers

San Francisco Chronicle architecture critic John King bemoans the visions put forth by three finalists vying to redevelop a spectacular site across from the Crissy Field marsh.

July 9 - San Francisco Chronicle

In retrospect, it may seem like Portland’s biking boom was inevitable. But not too long ago the city was eclipsed by other Pac NW cities for share of bicycle commuters. What happened between 2002-2008 to kick-start the city’s bike craze?

July 9 - BikePortland

BLOG POST

Laurie Olin, the preeminent landscape architect, is being presented this week with the prestigious National Medal of Arts. The well deserved honor is a big deal not only for Olin and his firm, but for all landscape architects.

July 9 - Mark Hough

Echoing the pioneering preservationists that saved and restored historic neighborhoods "left behind by suburban development" in the 1960s, a group of visionary entrepreneurs is battling to defend the historic soul of St. Joseph, Mo.

July 9 - Citiwire

With driverless cars poised to appear in the not-too-distant future, planners and engineers are beginning to envision the effect on the urban landscape and the spaces within cars themselves. Nick Bilton shares some of the predictions.

July 9 - The New York Times

An Indian newspaper has started a campaign aimed at making Chennai more accommodating to pedestrians. The issue is particularly acute in the global South, as growing auto ownership threatens the safety of those yet to climb the economic ladder.

July 9 - The Atlantic Cities

In a scene reminiscent of the Denzel Washington movie "Unstoppable", but without the heroic ending, an unmanned, 72-car oil train traveled 7 miles to Lac-Mégantic, pop. 6,000, where it derailed, setting off a fireball downtown. 5 fatalities so far.

July 8 - The New York Times

Despite widespread budget woes and austerity programs, European cities are pushing forward with plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by retrofitting existing transit systems in a "slow-motion revolution" in electric transport, reports Erica Gies.

July 8 - The New York Times

When Civic Arena was built in the late 1950's, it severed Pittsburgh's historic Hill District from Downtown, displacing thousands of African American families and businesses. A redevelopment being proposed for the site aims to re-establish the link.

July 8 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

At nearly three times the size of the Pentagon, Chengdu's New Century Global Center has staked a claim to the title of world's largest building. How do you keep 420 acres of floor space lit? Build an artificial sun, of course.

July 8 - CNET

Wash. state senate Republicans dealt a crushing blow to governors of both Wash. and Ore. by killing a 10.5-cent gas tax bill needed to tap $850 million in federal funds to finance rebuilding of two, obsolete I-5 spans over the Columbia River.

July 8 - The Columbian

As residential real estate sales set new highs in Bedford-Stuyvesant, more and more local families are being driven to the city's homeless shelters despite prevention efforts. What can city leaders do to ensure economic diversity?

July 8 - The New York Times

Spotted on the front page of Saturday's WSJ is a picture of a Yuba Mundo longtail cargo bike, directing readers to Tom Vanderbilt's feature article of the "Off Guard" section describing the many types of cargo bikes. Main cargo is kids and groceries.

July 8 - The Wall Street Journal

Across the D.C. metro area, the supply of market-affordable apartments has dropped dramatically over the past decade as the region's economy has boomed. Nonprofit groups and local governments are working to improve affordability.

July 8 - The Washington Post

Mitchell Silver's passionate defense of planning has earned admirers in England, where "a deflated planning profession is on the defensive". Peter Hetherington looks at Silver's advice for how English planners can show their value to skeptics.

July 8 - The Guardian