The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Great Lakes Turbines Get Second Wind

Just months after a proposal to build the first wind farm to be located offshore on any of the Great Lakes was shelved, five neighboring states have struck a deal with the Obama administration to develop offshore wind farms more quickly.

April 4 - The Buffalo News

New York Infrastructure Bank Begins Funding Projects, Just Days After Creation

Andrea Bernstein reports on the recent announcement of $1.2 billion in road and bridge project funding by the New York Works infrastructure bank, just days after its creation and before appointees to its administrative committee could even be named.

April 4 - Transportation Nation

BLOG POST

Revitalize our Cities? Yes We Cannes!

<p> Last week my family and I took in the <a href="http://www.canneslions.com/">2011 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity</a> (more commonly referred to as the Cannes Commercials), the annual celebration of the best in filmed advertising. The winning ads were, as usual, an entertaining mix of the hilarious, risqué and the moving, and afforded the viewer the chance to be exposed to diverse film styles (and unfamiliar products) from around the world. </p>

April 4 - Michael Dudley

Tracking Los Angeles' Racial Geography, 1990 - 2010

From black flight to Asian invasion, Mark Wilson offers his take on a stunning map that lays out the changing demography of Los Angeles.

April 4 - Fast Company

Durable, Custom, and Affordable Homes: This Builder Shows It Can Be Done

Simplify some steps, delete a few details, and you can get an affordable, multi-century house for under $80 a square foot.

April 4 - PlaceShakers


BLOG POST

For Planners: The Best of Times, The Worst of Times

<p> <em>Planetizen is honored to welcome Sam Hall Kaplan to Interchange, our daily blog featuring opinions and commentary from esteemed professionals such as himself. Many of you will need no introduction to Sam or his work. For those of you that do, a quick summary.</em> <br />

April 4 - Sam Hall Kaplan

How Does Urban Farming Fit into the Big Picture?

Irmak Turan discusses agriculture's place in the city, as seen by a handful of Brooklyn activists. From stormwater absorption to community ties, these farms provide more than just fresh food for earthy hipsters.

April 4 - Urban Omnibus


Majority Support MBTA Bailout

Eric Moskowitz reports on the results of a recent Boston Globe pool which shows Massachusetts voters support a publicly financed bailout of the state's cash-strapped transit agency.

April 4 - The Boston Globe

More Signs of the Big-Boxalypse

The era of big-box retail dominance is coming to an end. That's the opinion of David Welch, Chris Burritt and Lauren Coleman-Lochner, writing in <em>Bloomberg</em> on the occasion of Best Buy's recent announcement that it is closing 50 big stores.

April 4 - Bloomberg

The Ordinance Behind the Rebirth of Downtown LA

For the latest in a series on the laws that shaped Los Angeles, KCET's Jeremy Rosenberg examines 1999's Adaptive Reuse Ordinance, which made possible downtown's wave of condo conversion projects.

April 4 - KCET Departures

Bus Rapid Transit: from Adelaide to Zurich

Emily Badger profiles a new web-based information resource on all things BRT, launched this week by EMBARQ, with the International Energy Agency and the Bus Rapid Transit Centre of Excellence.

April 4 - The Atlantic Cities

The Smart Home of the Future: Nurse or Nudge?

Depending on your outlook, the smart home of the future may be an essential caregiver (or an annoying nudge) explains Emily Badger, who explores the new technology giving homes the ability to reason what’s going on inside them.

April 3 - The Atlantic Cities

Street Art Seen As a Ticket to Revitalization in Baltimore

Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson reports on Open Walls Baltimore, the city’s first officially sanctioned street art exhibition, which seeks to bring new life to a transitional neighborhood, and presents a dilemma for its curator.

April 3 - Grist

Brooklyn's Domino Redevelopment Project Turns Sour

Molly Heintz reports on the recent developments (or lack thereof) in the long and controversial saga centered around the future of the historic Domino Sugar refinery along Brooklyn's East River waterfront.

April 3 - The Architect's Newspaper

Will the Near Future be a Harsh Climate for Suburbs?

In this excerpt from her new book, "Before the Lights Go Out" author Maggie Koerth-Baker warns of the converging crises of peak oil and climate change on suburban areas.

April 3 - Scientific American

California Redefines Density

Census data reveals that California is the most urbanized state, with the most dense urban areas. But in California, sprawl, density, crowding, and urbanism are not always what they seem. Fortunately, a new law may help planners make sense of it all.

April 3 - California Planning & Development Report

Tulsa Struggles to Balance Development and Parking

Accompanied by images of a partially demolished building, P.J. Lassek reports on Tulsa's conflict between encouraging development and providing parking amenities.

April 3 - Tulsa World

Bauhaus Treasures Beginning to Get the Care They Deserve in Tel Aviv

JoAnn Greco explores Tel Aviv's trove of neglected Bauhaus treasures, which date to the growth of the brand-new Israeli city as a haven for Jews fleeing Nazi Germany.

April 3 - The Washington Post

As It Turns 100, MUNI Showing Its Age

On the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency's (MUNI) centennial birthday, Zusha Elinson reports on the sad fact that service is slower than it was when it began 100 years ago.

April 3 - The New York Times

How You Benefit From Increased Biking, Without Ever Touching a Pedal

Jay Walljasper chronicles the growing influence of the bicycle lobby, and their persuasive argument that policies that are good for bicyclists actually benefit everyone.

April 3 - Shareable

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