The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Efforts to reform L.A.'s permitting process are proceeding slower than many had hoped, reports Ryan Vaillancourt, and city leaders are looking to make more drastic changes. Could the city's planning department be consolidated as part of the effort?

March 6 - Los Angeles Downtown News

The passage of the Localism Act gave broad new planning powers to local communities across the UK. A new project seeks to build a bottom-up planning culture to take advantage of new opportunities.

March 6 - The Guardian

Joe Gose examines the growing use of health impact assessments to guide decision-making through a case study from the La Alma/Lincoln Park neighborhood near downtown Denver.

March 6 - The New York Times

Although California has long been a pioneer in protecting the environment, for its most innovative policies - from mandating renewable energy to limiting greenhouse gas emissions - to succeed, it will need other states, and countries, to follow.

March 6 - Los Angeles Times

Former Planning Director Bill Anderson details the organization, agendas, and partnerships of "best practice" planning departments that San Diego has studied in preparation for the unmerging of its Planning and Development Services departments.

March 6 - The Planning Report

Over the next 20 years, San Francisco is expected to add 150,000 new residents, or nearly 20% of its existing population. John Wildermuth looks at the "hard choices" confronting the city as it plans for its future.

March 6 - San Francisco Chronicle

Over the next two decades, we’re going to experience the most dramatic changes in American neighborhoods since the post-WWII era. Ben Brown looks at the changes on the horizon for the housing market, and the role planners will play in meeting them.

March 6 - PlaceShakers

With the traditional metrics of retail economics and geography being undermined by the Internet, businesses are searching for new ways to reach potential customers. Astute business owners in Portland are recognizing the value in good bike exposure.

March 6 - Green Lane Project

The first bus rapid transit route in the D.C. metro area will start serving passengers in Northern Virginia as early as Spring 2014.

March 6 - The Washington Post

Jennifer Keesmaat is "on her way to becoming modern Toronto’s first celebrity bureaucrat," says Marcus Gee, who profiles the city's new chief planner. Can she succeed in her quest for change without offending those whose support she'll need?

March 6 - Globe and Mail

As aging baby boomers enter retirement and seek to downsize from their large single-family homes (the "great senior sell-off") they'll find a housing market increasingly uninterested in what they're selling, says researcher Arthur C. Nelson.

March 5 - The Atlantic Cities

A new report out from the Census Bureau paints a comprehensive picture of commuting in the United States. Average commute times remain steady, but the most significant change may be in the percentage of people working from home at least once a week.

March 5 - The Washington Post

After a decade of waiting, today's the day planning geeks have been waiting for. SimCity has arrived! To celebrate, Fast Company has assembled "some of the most interesting urban thinkers...to see who would make the best fake metropolis."

March 5 - Fast Company Co.Exist

The Spanish city of Pontevedra has developed an innovative, and attractive, map of pedestrian connections based on the color-coded subway maps common to cities around the world; burnishing its reputation as "a leader in walker-friendly urban policy."

March 5 - POLIS

It was the first of many lawsuits to hit the HSRA. Menlo Park and Atherton, joined later by Palo Alto - three adjoining cities on the San Mateo County/Santa Clara County border, among the wealthiest in the nation, sued in 2008 to reroute the train.

March 5 - San Jose Mercury News

Building incrementally over time allows cities and towns to develop more interesting landscapes while incurring less debt. The slow evolution of Seaside, Florida is a prime example of the benefits of 'patient urbanism.'

March 5 - Original Green

While some agree that the plan has financial merit, others fear the social costs of mixing incomes in public housing neighborhoods. The authority's chairman sees it as a win-win.

March 5 - City Limits

As had been rumored, President Obama formally announced Ernest Moniz as his nominee for energy secretary and Gina McCarthy as EPA administrator on Monday. The nominees have attracted criticism from both sides of the aisle.

March 5 - The Washington Post

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is looking to technology to help Americans learn more about fair housing practices and make it easier to file complaints about discrimination.

March 5 - The Washington Post

Alan G. Brake outlines the redesigned plans to develop the site of the historic Domino Sugar refinery along Brooklyn's East River waterfront. The $1.5 billion plan is the latest, and perhaps last, turn in the site's tortured redevelopment saga.

March 5 - The Architect's Newspaper