The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

This week, a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators introduced the Brownfields Utilization, Investment and Local Development Act of 2013 (BUILD Act), a bill aimed at assisting local communities in remediating and redeveloping contaminated sites.

March 8 - The Atlantic Cities

That wild "mountain-slash-ski-slope-slash-waste-to-energy-power-plant" project proposed by "it" architecture firm BIG that everyone thought was dead has broken ground in Copenhagen, reports Branden Klayko.

March 8 - The Architect's Newspaper Blog

A new arena for the NBA's Warriors and a $1.6 billion mixed-use development south of AT&T Park are among the projects planned for San Francisco's waterfront. But a transit system already at capacity presents a formidable challenge for planners.

March 8 - The San Francisco Examiner

Rick Cole, the former City Manager of Ventura, California, and a well-known civic leader in Southern California, defends the need for CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) while calling for returning to the law's key roots.

March 8 - The Planning Report

Paul Barter answers with an unequivocal no. He outlines the reasons why debates over the elimination of parking minimums should be decoupled from transit, and identifies other reforms that can make parking changes palatable.

March 8 - Reinventing Parking

While state legislatures and governors are struggling whether to raise state gas, sales, or income taxes or user fees to fund transportation projects, an arcane state board of five elected members voted 3-2 to increase CA's gas tax by 3.5 cents.

March 8 - Los Angeles Times

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the news media were fixated on the plight of middle-class homeowners in places like the Rockaways in Queens. But two new reports show that low-income renters were the more prevalent victims of the storm.

March 8 - Crain's New York Business

In a compelling entry into the public dialog around placemaking, Project for Public Spaces argues that people, rather than merely places, create vibrancy in a community.

March 8 - Sustainable Cities Collective

Mayor Boris Johnson has unveiled a wildly ambitious £913m 10-year plan to make cycling an integral part of London's transportation network.

March 8 - The Guardian

Marcus Tudehope offers 12 reasons why community-led counting and mapping of the urban poor can be an effective tool for putting "power and democracy" into their hands.

March 7 - The Global Urbanist

When electricity was still in its infancy, municipal leaders turned to "moonlight towers" to provide mass illumination for their cities. Megan Garber explores the "brief and literally shining moment" in the history of electric streetlights.

March 7 - The Atlantic

One of the few times the Golden Gate Bridge's older sibling made headlines was for frightening reasons during the Loma Prieta earthquake. This week, the utilitarian Bay Bridge received a dose of elegance, as the world’s largest LED light sculpture.

March 7 - POLIS

Terry Pristin examines two pivotal projects currently under construction in Santa Monica that are poised to reconnect the city's historic civic center to the vibrant, walkable beachfront community.

March 7 - The New York Times

Biking can be a formidable economic development tool, argues James A. Bacon, who examines several ways in which investment in bicycle infrastructure can create wealth and jobs.

March 7 - Bacon's Rebellion

Monica Davey describes the divergent paths of Detroit's public and private sectors.

March 7 - The New York Times

WSJ editorial write Allysia Finley opines on the out-migration of working class Californians in search of employment and lower housing costs, contrasting it with in-migration of the same class of Americans during the Depression - also on video.

March 7 - The Wall Street Journal

Gallup and Healthways have released their annual state-by-state assessment of America's well being. For the fourth consecutive year, Hawaii tops the list.

March 7 - Fast Company Co.Exist

Jake Blumgart compares free transit in Europe with case studies in the U.S.

March 7 - Next City

Looking to get out from under one of the primary factors for financial distress - pension obligations - city leaders across the United States are viewing bankruptcy as "a valuable tool in a city’s financial toolbox," reports Liz Farmer.

March 7 - Governing

BLOG POST

The "Urban Mobility Report" produces widely-cited congestion cost estimates. It is biased in various ways that exaggerate congestion costs and roadway expansion benefits. Few users of these cost estimates seem aware of these problems.

March 6 - Todd Litman