The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Environmentalists likely found much to cheer in President Obama's support for bold action on climate change during the State of the Union address. Was their optimism premature?

February 14 - Grist

The owners of Madison Square Garden are asking NYC "to renew — in perpetuity — the special permit that allows them to operate an arena atop Penn Station, the country’s busiest transit hub." Michael Kimmelman urges the city to deny their request.

February 14 - The New York Times

Architectural historian Mitchell Schwarzer traces the historic roots of container architecture and argues that today's shipping container developments, like Proxy in San Francisco, are leading the way to a new kind of urbanism.

February 14 - Places Journal

Mitchell Silver, Raleigh City Planner and President of the APA, is on a mission to get planners to realize the importance of return on investment (ROI) in their projects. Raleigh is providing the testing ground for his arguments.

February 14 - Raleigh Public Record

If you're looking for the perfect Valentine's Day card for the planning enthusiast in your life, search no further. Five different Valentines show appreciation for cities and the people that live in them.

February 14 - CEOs For Cities

New research out of the University of Connecticut shows that making room for parking in cities only leads to more cars, and less people and economic development.

February 14 - The Atlantic Cities

A suburban farming model based on shared private garden plots springs up in Needham, Massachusetts. Could Kate Canney's experiment be an antidote to the challenge of finding farmland that plagues prospective farmers nationwide?

February 13 - Mother Earth News

Under Mayor Bloomberg's tenure, New York City has made great strides in improving its bicycle infrastructure. But as his final term comes to an end, some fear the next mayor may "end this period of bike-friendly programs and policies."

February 13 - The New York Times

Los Angeles County Planner Clement Lau describes how Instagram, the increasingly popular photo-sharing social media app., has become a valuable addition to his quiver of planning tools.

February 13 - UrbDeZine.com

In an address heavy on President Obama's domestic agenda for the first year of his second term, issues of importance to planners and urbanists got plenty of play, including: the environment, energy, infrastructure, and the economy.

February 13 - The Washington Post

While holding out promise for oil industry advocates, shale oil extraction in the United States appears to obey the law of diminishing returns.

February 13 - Slate

He's "among the most important, influential and personally idiosyncratic landscape architects of the 20th century," but outside of the profession, Dan Kiley isn't well known. A publication and exhibition scheduled for this year seek to change that.

February 13 - Huffington Post

The result of a collaborative effort between five editors and 43 professionals from around the world, a new open-source book documents the essential concepts and strategies for creating great cities at eye level - along the ground floor ("plinths").

February 13 - The City at Eye Level

Trulia has evaluated the ratios of men and women living alone in America's largest metros and neighborhoods to determine the best bets to find an available mate from the opposite sex. Guys, there's not much time to book your ticket to D.C....

February 13 - Trulia

The Delaware River Waterfront Corporation seeks qualifications to plan an open space connection between Center City and its waterfront. I-95, which runs parallel to the Delaware River inside the city, currently cuts off waterfront access.

February 13 - Next City

Vanessa Quirk discusses the results of Building Design's annual listing of the largest architecture firms in the world. The architecture and engineering behemoth Aecom has claimed top spot (up from number 2 last year) with 1,370 employees.

February 13 - Arch Daily

As Rio de Janiero prepares for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics, the city is pursuing several "flagship urban renovation and transportation projects." Should this investment extend to the millions living in low-income bedroom communities?

February 12 - urb.im

A $4 billion federal program was supposed to provide access to job opportunities, education resources, health care and government services via high-speed Internet to rural Americans. Questions are now being raised about how that money has been spent.

February 12 - The New York Times

BLOG POST

There may be a way to supply some of the benefits of form-based codes without heavy-handed aesthetic regulation. In theory, a form-based code could be limited to verifiable characteristics such as setbacks, yard types, building height, frontage size and lot coverage.

February 12 - Michael Lewyn

A new report from the Urban Land Institute highlights successful strategies for adapting the infrastructure of America's suburbs to accommodate a densification of development.

February 12 - Urban Land