The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

It's not how complicated or divisive New Urbanist-based land use regulations are that's driving the legal profession nuts. It's the opposite. There just aren't many New Urbanist rulings in the casebook, explains Jonathan Zasloff.

February 9 - Legal Planet

During the 1920s, the federal government passed a pair of laws that continue to this day to be hugely consequential to the modern practices of city planning and zoning. The two laws also planted the seeds of the planning profession.

February 9 - KCET.org Laws That Shaped LA

Deborah Hersman, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, an independent federal agency that investigates crashes in all modes of transportation, particularly aviation, is leading the list of replacements for Transpo Secretary LaHood.

February 9 - The Wall Street Journal - U.S. News

Bridge and Tunnel Club has published the full 23-page typed, double-spaced letter that Robert Moses wrote in response to Robert Caro's biography.

February 9 - Bridge and Tunnel Club

BLOG POST

Making the most of being a student requires more than just completing the course credits necessary for a degree. See my suggestions for activities beyond the classroom that are key to getting a great education.

February 8 - Ann Forsyth

A new Tumblr site has been created to collect images of the most essential technique known to plan. In the three days since it's launched, "Planners Pointing" has gathered more than a dozen shots of planners in action.

February 8 - Planners Pointing

In an essay for Next City, Juan-Pablo Velez, member of the Chicago-based civic tech collective Open City, explains the rationale behind their latest project, which aims to make the city's zoning "digestible by humans."

February 8 - Next City

It will cost more than $50 billion to transform the "once sleepy" Black Sea resort of Sochi into the "sleek host" of the 2014 Winter Olympics, writes David M. Herszenhorn. The most expensive games ever is a pet project of President Vladimir V. Putin.

February 8 - The New York Times

“More Park, Less Way” is the title of a new plan to revitalize Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Parkway, which was fashioned after Paris's famous boulevard but falls short by almost any measure, including its unwelcoming pedestrian environment.

February 8 - The Architect's Newspaper

...38 million people are already here, explains USC Professor Dowell Myers in response to the question, "Is California's growth slow-down a problem?" Myers new research is on the implications of the state's baby bust.

February 8 - KQED News Fix

Roger Vincent shares the long-awaited design of the Wilshire Grand, a 73-story tower planned for downtown Los Angeles. When completed, it will surpass the nearby U.S. Bank Tower as the tallest building west of Chicago.

February 8 - Los Angeles Times

How does each of us perceive the city? Using photos of pedestrians in Seattle crosswalks and the highly walkable Las Ramblas in Barcelona, Chuck Wolfe challenges readers to think for themselves about what they see.

February 8 - The Atlantic Cities

Alby Gallun looks at Chicago's downtown apartment boom, which is supposed to add 4,700 units to the market by the end of 2014. Will lenders allow the bubble to burst?

February 8 - Chicago Real Estate Daily

On Places, D.J. Waldie assesses iconic aerial photographs of Lakewood, California, one of the nation's first postwar planned communities.

February 8 - Places Journal

This week Manhattan borough president Scott M. Stringer was set to outline a blueprint for expanding access to the East River in his state of the borough speech. In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the improvements are seen as a potential buffer.

February 8 - The New York Times

A new film, Trainsforming America, takes a look at passenger rail in the US from the passengers' perspective.

February 7 - Transportation Radio

American Forests has announced its list of the top American cities who recognize the economic, aesthetic, environmental and social value of their vegetation, and work to protect and expand their urban forests.

February 7 - American Forests

Continuing our focus on the need to invest in transportation infrastructure and unwillingness to raise state gas taxes, the most recent proposal comes from Gov. Tom Corbett: Reducing the excise tax while increasing the wholesale gas dealer tax.

February 7 - The Wall Street Journal - U.S. News

Appealing to artists is a common method of urban revitalization, but keeping artists and musicians around after a community is revitalized is an equally difficult task.

February 7 - Global Site Plans - The Grid

While New York has benefited over the past decade from the design leadership of Michael Bloomberg, Amanda Burden, and Janette Sadik-Khan, Los Angeles sorely lacks such powerful champions. Sam Lubell asks who will step up for L.A.

February 7 - The Architect's Newspaper