The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

The nation has a huge quantity of postwar housing that can be made more walkable and appealing to new generations of residents. Robert Steuteville examines what makes them good candidates and notes some examples of successful retrofits.

July 3 - Better! Cities & Towns

As substantial state and federal subsidies for electric cars continue, and the number of vehicles on America's roads climbs, a new article is raising questions about their environmental benefits over conventional cars.

July 3 - DC.Streetsblog

Shannon Mattern examines how media scholars and environmental artists are working to reveal the material and immaterial infrastructures that shape our lives, from the Interstate to the Internet.

July 3 - Places Journal

Long lines for transbay ferries and the limited number of free charter buses operated by BART, packed AC Transit transbay buses, and traffic crawling on the S.F.-Oakland Bay Bridge show the effects of the BART strike on day two.

July 3 - KCBS

A number of recent reports have examined the growing levels of poverty found in America's suburbs. An interactive map developed by the Urban Institute makes the dimensions and trajectories of that growth clear.

July 3 - The Atlantic Cities

Just a few decades ago, clients were discouraging designers from providing comfortable resting spots in NYC's parks. For a crop of new public spaces, designers are dreaming up fanciful park furniture that beckons people to stop and stay a while.

July 3 - The New York Times

FEATURE

With Millennials leading America’s historic decline in driving, cities are exploring ways to attract young professionals through reliable mass transit. Benjamin de la Pena and Nicholas Turner argue that Bus Rapid Transit is the optimal solution.

July 2 - Benjamin de la Pena

Bjarke Ingels, founding partner of hot architecture firm BIG, is a media savvy populist who's scorned by the establishment, yet adept at "bringing his message directly to the people". Justin Fowler dissects his strategy for success.

July 2 - ArchDaily

Abandoned factories litter the landscapes of cities and towns throughout the Rust Belt. A new paper proposes an innovative solution to help prevent vacant buildings from plaguing a community before a building is ever constructed.

July 2 - The Atlantic Cities

Public transit that serves rural communities is no less essential to the everyday needs of their users as those systems that serve cities. So, why do some states seem so eager to cut subsidies to rural transit providers?

July 2 - Rooflines

While it may not have the world's highest absolute property values, Beijing has the highest imbalance between housing prices and incomes. Gwynn Guilford examines why this is problematic for the country's economic and social wellbeing.

July 2 - Quartz

A 2.7% increase on Ohio Turnpike Tolls and the new bonds that revenue will generate will not be enough to repair Ohio's aging road and bridge network, so a task force will recommend strategies - one of which must be elimination of the gas excise tax.

July 2 - The Plain Dealer

BLOG POST

Tesla has just disclosed the first fatal crash of a driver using its "Autopilot" system. Tesla should be concerned about the question of who's liable, and we should all be concerned about the wider consequences of this tragic event.

July 2 - Scott Le Vine

Within a few decades, explosive population growth in West Africa will create an urbanized area similar in size to America's eastern seaboard between Boston and D.C., "only far more populous." At one pole is Lagos, a "powerful new city-state."

July 2 - The Atlantic

Hazel Borys concludes her whirlwind European travelog. This week: a look at the DNA of Paris, and how to replicate it elsewhere.

July 2 - PlaceShakers

President Obama recently unveiled his 21-page framework for tackling climate change. But for some economists, that's twenty pages too many. A tax on carbon emissions is a simple, elegant, and relatively painless way to reduce emissions, they believe.

July 2 - NPR

A narrow approach to land use policy makes it difficult for communities to assess, and consider, the full impact of new big-box stores. But on Cape Cod, a regional planning framework allows the hidden consequences of big boxes to inform decisions.

July 2 - Grist

Seeking to maximize the power of the Internet to expand public outreach efforts, a plethora of engagement platforms have proliferated in recent years. Government Technology looks at five of the most promising new models of civic engagement.

July 2 - Government Technology

Move over Amsterdam. A new study of London's road use patterns has found that bicycles account for 24 percent of all road traffic during the morning commute. At nearly a fifth of the areas monitored, bikes actually outnumbered other vehicles.

July 1 - London Evening Standard

Across America's Midwest, resident revolts have challenged the traditional DOT orthodoxy of continuous highway construction. The most recent battleground is St. Louis, where a growing movement is protesting a highway project first conceived in 1957.

July 1 - DC.Streetsblog