The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Public Transit Use Continues to Rise

The American Public Transportation Association has released a new report showing that more people nationwide are taking buses and trains. Amid high has prices, young students and struggling families are being credited with the jump.

December 11 - The Los Angeles Times

Bodybuilding Moves to the Playground

Haya El Nasser reports on the latest trend in park design: free public 'fitness parks' that feature exercise equipment "built to withstand the rigor of weather vandalism."

December 11 - USA Today

Young Adults are Finally Leaving the Nest

The improving job market and low mortgage rates have enabled more adults in their 20s and early 30s to move into their own apartments and to buy homes, which, says Don Lee, could boost the nation's broader economic recovery.

December 11 - The Los Angeles Times

Food for Thought from the APA

The APA has published the final results of a longitudinal study conducted in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that surveyed the national landscape of food access planning.

December 11 - APA Sustaining Places

Battle Against Homelessness Making Progress, But Will Fall Short of Goals

A report released today shows that the federal government has been effective in reducing homelessness over the last several years, but will fall short of goals for eradicating homelessness among the most vulnerable populations.

December 10 - The New York Times


How Copenhageners Got Back On Their Bikes

Copenhagen wasn't always the "pedaler’s paradise" that it is today. Through the early twentieth century the Danish capital embraced the bike, but after WWII it experimented with American style development. How did the city get back on track?

December 10 - Grid Chicago

How New York Failed Its Neediest After Sandy

In an expose that many have been clamoring for since the days immediately following Sandy when stories of people stranded in NYC's public housing came to light, the Times explores how NYCHA and the city were unprepared for the storm's aftermath.

December 10 - The New York Times


jersey-city-parking-lot-3

A Novel Approach for Eliminating Surface Parking Lots

In Minneapolis, and cities across the country, surface parking lots are an enduring blight on urban landscapes; their presence often incentivized by existing tax structures. Could a new approach to property taxation maximize the productivity of land?

December 10 - Streets MN

Last of the color coding

FEATURE

Top 10 Books - 2013

Planetizen is pleased to release its eleventh annual list of the ten best books in urban planning, design and development published in 2012.

December 10 - Abhijeet Chavan

Climate Talks End With Agreement and Bewilderment

Annual United Nations climate change negotiations concluded in Doha over the weekend with an agreement to extend the "increasingly ineffective" Kyoto Protocol a few years, while pushing off a more ambitious replacement agreement.

December 10 - The New York Times

Parking App Heads to the Suburbs

Does your town have sensors embedded in the pavement of parking stalls that signal when one becomes available? D.C. and N.Y.C. do - and now Streetline's parking app will allow motorists in San Mateo, pop. 97K and San Carlos, pop. 28K to find parking.

December 10 - The (San Mateo County) Daily Journal

San Diego's Transit Future Looking Brighter

With two transit-friendly figures elected to the highest posts in San Diego's government and transit advocates having scored a major court victory in upending the region's transportation plan, the city's transit future is looking bright.

December 10 - Voice of San Diego

Art Leads a Miami Neighborhood's Comeback

After a decade of establishing itself on the global art calendar, the "once-forlorn slab of Miami called Wynwood" is now a year-round must-see destination.

December 10 - The New York Times

After Long Road, Bike-Share Gets Boost in Philly

The bike-share bandwagon is getting awfully full! On Friday came news that Mayor Nutter will ask Philadelphia's city council for $3 million to help fund a city-wide bike-share program that could hit the streets by early 2014.

December 10 - Philadelphia Inquirer -- Philly.com

Mapping the Leaders of Public Interest Design

For its inaugural list of the "Public Interest Design 100," PublicInterestDesign.org and research partner the University of Minnesota College of Design have identified the key figures leading the convergence of design and service.

December 10 - Architizer

BLOG POST

Do Environmentalists Feed The Fire of Climate Change Denial?

Despite the extreme weather events of the past year, most Americans are still not persuaded that climate change is primarily the result of human activity. Why not?

December 9 - Michael Lewyn

Re-Connecting Housing and Health for a Better Future

Elizabeth Burton reminds us of the close connection between housing and health, and proposes better ways to gauge how housing may affect the health and well-being of residents.

December 9 - The Guardian (UK)

China's Cities Hold the Key to the World's Future

In a globalized world, China's economic, environmental and urban development has implications for us all, posits Henry M. Paulson Jr. The problems the country faces, and any potential solutions, revolve around its approach to urbanization.

December 9 - The New York Times

Appreciation for a Modern Master

Paul Goldberger offers a remembrance of the "last lion" of Modernism - Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer - who passed away earlier this week at the age of 104.

December 9 - Vanity Fair

Massive Engineering Projects Transform Seattle's Waterfront

The formerly industrial shoreline of Puget Sound will soon undergo $4.5 billion worth of engineering projects that will complete Seattle's waterfront transformation, reports Kirk Johnson.

December 9 - The New York Times

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