The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Historically the one-year data may be an aberration as suburbs have outgrown cities for every decade since the 1920s. It may be as much a consequence of the recession and housing bust as a preference for urban living, but builders are responding.

June 29 - The Wall Street Journal

Filmmaker Dean Petersen noticed a troublesome step at the 36th Street subway exit in Brooklyn, and decided to find out how many people tripped over it. Video evidence shows this hazard in action.

June 29 - Boing Boing

David Steel explains how Buffalo's zoning code not only makes it impossible to build the type of neighborhoods people love, but also guarantees that low density development pays less taxes.

June 29 - Rust Wire

Workers making up the 'creative class,' a term first coined by author Richard Florida, continue to grow and prosper, generating trillions in wages. What cities in the U.S. have the largest creative economies?

June 29 - The Daily Beast

Often downplayed of their role in both planning efforts and in the economy, tribal governments are working collaboratively with other local governments in Oklahoma to help build and maintain roads.

June 29 - Tulsa World

Want to know how long it will take to pick up the kids at school, drive to your favorite restaurant, drive the baseball game, take the bus to the park? And all at once? Trulia's new innovative map does just that.

June 29 - Fast Company

Young activists Emaleigh and Ainé Doley take matters into their own hands to clean up their neighborhood street in run-down Germantown.

June 29 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Nate Berg takes a look at the seven biggest cities to have filed for bankruptcy in the last two decades, the largest of which officially broke the bank as of yesterday.

June 28 - The Atlantic Cities

Brent Toderian, recently the planning director for Vancouver, was interviewed by Denmark's Sustainable Cities about technology and planning. Toderian was contrarian when it came to technology's ability to save the world.

June 28 - Sustainable Cities

A new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council ranks the cleanest and dirtiest beaches in the U.S. Jessica Camille Aguirre gives an overview of the group’s findings and discovers a less than significant improvement in overall water quality.

June 28 - NPR

In pollution-heavy San Joaquin Valley of California's Central Valley, some cities are considering replacing Fourth of July fireworks with laser light shows. Locals aren't so sure.

June 28 - Governing

Eric Fidler observes how residents of a Washington, D.C. neighborhood fight against the granting of a liquor license to a proposed restaurant, using the emotional health of school children as part of their argument.

June 28 - Greater Greater Washington

BLOG POST

<p> <span style="white-space: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>One of the ways we identify places is by foods for which those places are known. Baltimore – crab. Maine – lobster. Cincinnati – chili. San Francisco – sourdough bread. Vienna – pastry. Even for a city to which you’ve never been, chances are that in your mind that city has some food association. </p>

June 28 - Lisa Feldstein

FEATURE

June 28 - John Wilbanks

On Friday, the US DOT awarded TIGER 2012 funds to 47 projects totaling $500 million -- far less than the $10.2 billion that was asked for from an astounding 703 applications from all 50 states.

June 28 - Transportation Nation

As the global recession continues to hit the global economy, shopping centers take on two distinct development patterns in developed and developing nations.

June 28 - Retail Traffic

A unanimous decision by a 3-judge panel affirmed a central 2009 finding of the EPA that greenhouses gases pose a threat to public health, clearing the way for applying regulations controlling their emissions to stationary sources and vehicles.

June 28 - Reuters

As new research data on cities pours in daily, interesting patterns emerge regarding income, green space and urban growth. Like people in their genetic make-up, are cities fundamentally all the same?

June 28 - The Economist

To some, "the suburbs" mean bland neighborhoods outside of a vibrant city life. But demographic and land-use changes are making Lakis Polycarpou and others rethink the definitions of "urban" and "suburban."

June 28 - POLIS

BLOG POST

I appreciate natural environments. I have always enjoyed walking in wilderness and cycling on rural roads, and I understand the ecological value provided by undeveloped lands, which include clean water, air and wildlife habitat. I also enjoy local fresh vegetables and fruits and so appreciate the value of preserving regional farmlands. Planners call these "greenspace," or more generally "openspace" since some, such as deserts and waterways, are open but not necessarily green.

June 27 - Todd Litman