The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

A tongue-in-cheek, and somewhat convoluted, infographic produced in association with NPR's "Cities Project" aims to help participants deduce whether or not they live in a city.

July 13 - Fast Company Co:Design

As the third California city in a month files for bankruptcy protection, fears of a domino effect worry many. While bankruptcy may seem like an enticing solution, officials that have gone through it caution about the downside.

July 13 - Los Angeles Times

Farhad Manjoo probes the internet retail giant's shifting strategy on the geographic distribution of its facilities, and wonders what the implications are for local retail once Amazon can offer same-day delivery.

July 13 - Salon

In case the everyday theater of urban street life isn't quite adequate in an age of $200 million Hollywood blockbusters, a design collective from Auckland, New Zealand has created a way to turn any stoop into a mini cinema.

July 13 - Architizer

Jeremy Rosenberg examines why Thomas Jefferson may have had more of an impact on the development of Los Angeles than you might suspect. The city's street grid can be traced back to this American founding father.

July 13 - KCET

Milton Lindsay examines America's efforts to build a national system of high-speed trains and finds mixed results in the nation's eleven intended corridors.

July 13 - Next American City

Only a decade after the last family farm in the city closed, commercial agriculture is mining "the last slice of untapped real estate in the city" to reap a bounty of benefits - from locally grown basil and bok choy to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

July 13 - The New York Times

As the European financial crisis drags on, money for the continent's numerous architectural and historical resources remains limited. As a result, cities are looking for new revenue streams, including billboards and image rights.

July 13 - The Washington Post

The historic city of Pingyao, China, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, faces an uncertain future as it tries to find a balance between managing modern threats and petrification by preservation, as it attempts to maintain its historic character.

July 13 - The Atlantic Cities

As airlines cut service to small and mid-sized cities, once bustling airports now find whole terminals vacated, and are looking to find new revenue models for the vacated space, reports Jane L. Levere.

July 12 - The New York Times

With a federal tax credit that has fueled the growth of wind energy over the last two decades set to expire at the end of the year, the wind power industry is facing layoffs and factory closings, writes Simone Sebastian.

July 12 - The Houston Chronicle

Turning its attention from trimming waistlines to expanding skylines, Matt Chaban delivers the details on the Bloomberg administration's proposed upzoning for the east side of Midtown Manhattan.

July 12 - The New York Observer

Completed years ago, the true cost of Boston's "Big Dig" is finally being tallied. Unfortunately, for residents of Massachusetts, the tab is far from paid, imperiling funding for other necessary transportation projects, reports Eric Moskowitz.

July 12 - Boston.com

BLOG POST

Whenever we weed through the records of our personal past -- diaries, letters, drawings, school assignments from our youth -- we face difficult decisions over what to keep and what to discard. We are forced to come to terms with our documented past, and often recognize the power such records hold to both inspire – and embarrass. For individuals and governments alike, the decision over what to record, what to retain and what to communicate is a potent one, for it can either afford or constrain opportunities for actions in the future, as well as confirm or conflict with the image or myths we choose to tell about ourselves.

July 12 - Michael Dudley

Does riding the subway make you want to burst out into song? For the performers of the 10 ballads deemed by Eric Jaffe to be the best songs about the subway, there may be no greater muse.

July 12 - The Atlantic Cities

As the federal and several state governments continue to allow costs for a college education to rise, local governments and business are looking for strategies to stem the tide.

July 12 - The Huffington Post

As plans progress in many large cities to cap their below-grade urban freeways, smaller cities, like Ventura, California, are looking to benefit from similar proposals.

July 12 - Ventura County Star

TIME's senior national correspondent posits that once the first shovel begins digging int the Central Valley, the $68 billion project will be hard to stop, regardless of the fact that no federal funding awaits as long as the GOP controls the House.

July 12 - Time

Matt Flegenheimer reports on Mayor Bloomberg's announcement this week that the city plans to expand its so-called neighborhood slow-zone program, which is aimed at reducing driving speeds in neighborhoods across town.

July 12 - The New York Times

Martin Di Caro reports on the enthusiastic response that the bike rental program Capital Bikeshare has produced in D.C., and the significant changes it's sparked in the local culture and economy.

July 12 - WAMU