The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Jeremy Rosenberg's latest entry in his "Laws That Shaped LA" column looks at the impact of the Collier-Burns Act, a state law passed in 1947 that allowed the city to become "smothered with concrete and asphalt goliaths."

October 11 - KCET Departures

Mick Sweetman of George Brown College criticizes Toronto city council's decision to remove an existing bike lane heavily used by that college's students.

October 11 - rabble.ca

A free digital toolkit allowing communities to collect, analyze, and share their own data will be launched nationally at the end of the year.

October 11 - Fast Company Co.Design

Local officials in Overland Park, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City, are pursuing a plan to build America's National Museum of Suburbia. Displays may include artifacts such as school lunchboxes, electric toasters and camping gear.

October 11 - The Wall Street Journal

Texas State Rep. Joe Pickett faults a recent TRIP report for not recommending a funding strategy to address the state's revenue shortfall for transportation needs. Two groups view vehicle registration fees as a funding option.

October 11 - The Texas Tribune

An innovate plan to reconceive Auckland's transit network from the ground up led by Jarrett Walker demonstrates the dramatic efficiencies that can be gained, without additional cost, by increasing transfers.

October 11 - Human Transit

This collection of images of buildings shaped like animals brings new meaning to the term "architectural petting zoo."

October 11 - Flavorwire

For planners searching for hard to find historic census data in a GIS-ready format, the National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) may be the one-stop shop you've been looking for.

October 11 - APA

Matthew Yglesias diagnoses a common predicament facing many urban communities: the fear that improving living conditions is a <em>bad</em> thing.

October 11 - Slate

Once a national hub of passenger rail service, St. Louis's majestic Union Station hasn't seen a train in five years. The impending sale of the station may provide the opportunity to bring a historic use back to one of the country's grand relics.

October 11 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

BLOG POST

<p> Urban agriculture is a hot topic in sustainability, food, and planning circles. From roof and deck gardens to community gardens to urban farms, urban agriculture has captured the imaginations of activists of many stripes as well as gardeners and eaters. When I mention that my academic work focuses on food access in urban areas, the most common response I get is “oh, you mean like urban ag?” As this interest in urban agriculture grows, some are asking whether food sovereignty – the ability for a population to produce enough food to feed itself – is a feasible goal for American cities.  </p>

October 11 - Lisa Feldstein

The subject of recent politically charged threats, the rail carrier surpassed its record for annual passengers for the ninth time in ten years. Ridership has grown a total of 49 percent since 2000.

October 10 - Transportation Nation

Long lagging behind European and East Coast cities, cities in California are poised to adopt bike sharing in a big way. Los Angeles, Anaheim, San Francisco and others are adding the popular short-term rental service to their transportation options.

October 10 - California Planning & Development Report

Jack Healy explores Denver's conflicted relationship with its 16th Street Mall, the pedestrian-oriented street that runs for a mile through the city's downtown. Bustling by day, but deserted and dicey at night, it has become an icon of the city.

October 10 - The New York Times

An enterprising developer and experimental architect are pushing the boundaries between L.A.'s suburban style of single-family housing and its need for dense infill development on a site in the city's Echo Park neighborhood.

October 10 - The Architect's Newspaper

The planned Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) District trains will not only be quiet (though diesel-powered), but so will the crossings if cities and counties cooperate.

October 10 - The (Sonoma County) Press Democrat

On-again, off-again, and now back on-again plans to redevelop the polluted area between two of Brooklyn's most affluent neighborhoods have the residents of Gowanus divided on the direction of their gritty community.

October 10 - The New York Times

Ever wonder how the greenhouse gas emissions of your home compare to your neighbor's, or the supermarket down the street, or the office tower you work in? New software helps visualize such information in three dimensions across an entire city.

October 10 - The Atlantic Cities

Kelly Smith looks at a host of technologies - from thermoplastics to video sensing systems - that local leaders in Minnesota are hoping can make crosswalks safer for pedestrians amid rising incidences of fatalities.

October 10 - Star Tribune

Lissette Valdez looks at two new applications that are helping to blur the lines between digital and hand drawn designs.

October 10 - The Architect's Newspaper