The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

NPR interviews technology historian Peter Norton, D.C. Planning Director Harriet Tregoning, and motorists on D.C. streets who resent exclusive bus lanes, parking tickets, red light cameras, and parklets usurping parking spaces.

July 24 - NPR

Declining state aid, hobbled endowments, and rising debt are hurting the balance sheets of colleges across America. Unfortunately the economies of their surrounding towns, which rely on schools for jobs, customers, and more, are far from immune.

July 24 - The Wall Street Journal

As Virginia drafts new rules to govern the sale of naming rights to its highways, interchanges, and bridges, public officials want to ensure that their new "marketing technology" provides more than just a sign on the road, reports Liz Essley.

July 23 - The Examiner

Kelly Sinoski and Michael Vinkin Lee detail the strategies identified in Vancouver's new plan to deal with expected increases in the effects of climate change, from street flooding and damaged forests to heat-related illnesses.

July 23 - The Vancouver Sun

Eric Jaffe discusses the importance of providing showers and changing facilities at workplaces - the "hidden factor" in encouraging bike commuting - as revealed in the findings of a new study.

July 23 - The Atlantic Cities

When California planned to close 70 parks this month to save $22 million, donors sprang into action to help keep them open. It turns out they needn't have, as last week it was revealed the CA Dept. of Parks and Recreation stashed away $54 million.

July 23 - Los Angeles Times

A recently released Amtrak plan doesn't envision high-speed rail servicing the Northeast Corridor until 2040. Paul Nussbaum looks at whether an incremental approach might bring increased speed and amenities to passengers sooner.

July 23 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Census results released last week offered some astonishing findings - each of England's big cities is growing, after shedding people only a decade ago. The Economist looks at the phenomenon and the factors that have contributed to the resurgence.

July 23 - The Economist

Increasingly utilized as 'black boxes' in the aftermath of collisions with motorized vehicles, video cameras are the newest addition to the arsenal of tools being employed to make streets safer for bikes.

July 23 - The New York Times

The Bay Area's two regional agencies approved funding a study to pursue a 9-county "vehicle-miles-traveled" fee of as much as 10-cents per mile that could involve GPS technology to fund regional transportation improvements.

July 23 - San Jose Mercury News

In light of last week's incomprehensible tragedy in Colorado, Richard Florida prefaces the inevitable rekindling of the country's debate on gun rights by mapping gun violence at the state level and exploring its correlating factors.

July 23 - The Atlantic Cities

Will a new Chicago ordinance put the kibosh on mobile cupcakes and kabobs?

July 23 - The Huffington Post

Although the first segment of the state's recently approved high-speed rail line terminates in California's Central Valley, a significant portion of the initial funding will go to improving rail lines from San Diego to San Francisco.

July 22 - KPCC

Gone are the days of drab cinderblock housing for America's military families. Taking advantage of an initiative passed by Congress in 1996, today's privatized military housing developments are larger and packed with modern amenities.

July 22 - The New York Times

As Congress presses to eliminate funding for many of the federal government's sustainable planning initiatives, increased collaboration among agencies around smart growth policies may be irreversible.

July 22 - Streetsblog

After the bust of the housing market in 2008, a striking reversal of settlement patterns in New Jersey gives cities the lead in population growth over once-booming suburbs and exurbs.

July 22 - New Jersey Future

Following precedents from other cities, San Francisco is looking to redesign its famous Market Street by removing automobiles, creating raised bike lanes, implementing faster transit, and making for a more inviting public space.

July 22 - Streetsblog

Michael Kimmelman paints an idyllic picture along the Bronx River in New York, where the waterfront along "one of the most blighted, abused waterways in the country" is being transformed park by park.

July 21 - The New York Times

Sarah Laskow notes the latest battlefronts in the growing 'war on gardens' being perpetrated by cities across North America.

July 21 - Grist

A so-called "eco-friendly" apartment complex complete with solar panels that derives more than 90% of its energy needs from coal? China struggles to take sustainable development seriously.

July 21 - USA Today