The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

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

A new study suggests that density, mixed-use neighborhoods, short city blocks, and, crucially, walkability foment political and social activism, reports Richard Florida.

July 8 - The Atlantic Cities

In an era of mobile people and capital, the most ambitious cities position themselves as international players. By examining the 10 key traits of successful "global" cities, Brookings hopes to help local leaders "gauge their global starting point."

July 7 - Brookings: The Avenue

Not many non-Londoners know what the City of London is. Even fewer know about its political ties to the finance industry.

July 7 - NPR Morning Edition

As more governments embrace civic hackathons as a way to tap enthusiastic young software developers quickly and cheaply, a backlash to these "app-developing marathons" is growing along with them. Does their local focus doom them to irrelevance?

July 7 - The Atlantic Cities

A new state-mandated plan for the Bay Area may displace the region's goods movement businesses, thereby worsening congestion, increasing air pollution, raising consumer prices, and eliminating well-paying green- and blue-collar jobs.

July 7 - California Progress Report

Does D.C. want to be a swamp? Are waterfronts for tow parks or people? Heidi Petersen reports on a panel discussion on the past and future of Washington's waterfront at the National Building Museum.

July 7 - ASLA The Dirt

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat has recognized the best tall buildings of 2013. The regional winners include The Bow in Calgary, CCTV in Beijing, The Shard in London, and Sowwah Square in Abu Dhabi.

July 6 - CTBUH

In its history, Los Angeles has made four fateful planning decisions, in the opinion of real estate consultant and developer Michael P. Russell, but much can be learned from these mistakes.

July 6 - UrbDeZine.com

Curbed San Francisco has compiled a list of 17 of San Francisco's secret gardens and overlooked green spaces. Hidden gems include mini parks, rooftop decks, and a tulip garden.

July 6 - Curbed SF

Like many cities across the country revisiting their outdated zoning codes, Washington D.C. has made parking requirement reform a centerpiece of their efforts. These efforts have attracted the ire of residents and AAA who fear parking armageddon.

July 6 - WNYC: Transportation Nation

Over 20 years, the TKF Foundation has funded the creation of dozens of “green refuges from the stresses of modern life”. With $4.5 million in funding for six new projects, they’re out to prove the physical and psychological benefits of such spaces.

July 6 - The Atlantic Cities

Larung Gar is a remote settlement located at 12,500ft in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Check out the incredible images of the row upon row of small boxes that house the 40,000 residents of one of the world's largest Buddhist institutes.

July 5 - Daily Mail

Gov. Tom Corbett's goal of increasing transportation funding was thwarted by political differences in the House. Republicans couldn't agree on lifting the gas tax cap while Democrats wanted more funding for transit. They will try again in the fall.

July 5 - Star Gazette

Taichung, Taiwan (pop 2.7 million) has beaten out six other finalists to claim the Intelligent Community Forum’s (ICF) designation as "intelligent community of the year". Robert Bell and Sylvie Albert describe what makes the city an intelligent icon.

July 5 - The Global Urbanist

The three geographers behind the Floating Sheep blog have created a world map of Internet references to zombies.

July 5 - Atlantic Cities

Inspired by Manhattan's pedestrianization of Times Square, L.A.'s city council recently approved $1.8 million in funding to reduce a major downtown thoroughfare's roadway by half to make room for "a massive increase of the pedestrian infrastructure."

July 5 - LA.Streetsblog

The streets of San Diego may be safe once again for nefarious chalking after a jury acquitted a local man accused of 13 counts of vandalism for scrawling anti-bank messages on sidewalks.

July 5 - San Diego Union-Tribune