The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Republican Presidential candidate Herman Cain has been touting a plan where individuals, businesses and a national sales tax would all be 9%. Reporter Amanda Terkel says this sounds suspiciously similar to the default settings in SimCity.

October 14 - The Huffington Post

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) is fighting with Congress to extend a popular federal incentive program. Set to end on December 31 this year, the group states that the program could create 37,400 more jobs and add nearly 500 megawatt.

October 14 - Forbes

A recent Pew Research study revealed that 58% of 25-34 year old Americans own smartphones, and communicate with each other, and their city governments in new ways.

October 14 - American City and Country

A new exhibition curated by the Cooper-Hewitt in New York illustrates how the design community is trying to reshape itself as more collaborative than 'pedagogic or paternalistic.'

October 14 - The Atlantic

In Atlanta, plans called for a five-building development in the suburb of Dunwoody. With only three buildings completely built, the Providence Group decided to turn the undeveloped land into a park.

October 14 - Builder

Forbes Magazine picks 15 of the most stressful cities in the United States. To come up with the data, "we analyzed quality-of-life data from the 40 largest metropolitan statistical areas," says Beth Greenfield.

October 14 - Forbes

Site of the Occupy Wall Street protests, Zuccotti Park is a privately-owned public space. Lisa W. Foderaro explains the difference between this and a public park, and why it works for the protests.

October 14 - The New York Times

At least, according to the city's urban planners. The two-mile elevated highway is a hindrance, reports Juan Forero, to the city's modernization.

October 14 - The Washington Post

Richard Florida digests Walkscore's Walkability rankings, and discusses some surprising results. Among the top ten are Union City, New Jersey, and Miami, Florida.

October 13 - The Atlantic

In 2001, Eero Saarinen's famed TWA Terminal in John F. Kennedy International Airport closed after American Airlines bought the airline out. Completed in 1962, this terminal is now rarely accessible by the public.

October 13 - BBC

BLOG POST

The terms Central city, Inner city and urban have long been synonymous with the poorer, disadvantaged minority sections of metropolitan areas. Conversely, the suburbs have been associated with whites, affluence and job growth. For a long time, however, this dichotomy has failed to capture the gradual blurring of distinctive patterns that demarcate city from suburb. A recent <a href="http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2011/1011_housing_suburbs_covington_freeman_stoll.aspx">Brookings report</a> by Kenya Covington, Michael Stoll and yours truly underscores this point. The Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, the single largest affordable housing program in the country is almost as prevalent in the suburbs as in central cities.

October 13 - Lance Freeman

In the third year Forbes has compiled the list, the new data factors included in this year's survey bumped New York City off the list and moved Buffalo into the top spot out of 50 metropolitan areas.

October 13 - Forbes

Terrain.org's newest "UnSprawl" case study explores the new Serenbe development, a mixed-use community of three hamlets anchored by an organic farm and striving to be an Atlanta-region destination for its restaurants, inn, and more.

October 13 - Terrain.org: A Journal of the Built & Natural Environments

Before Katrina, New Orleans was unfriendly and unpopular for cyclists. Today, the city has 15 streets with bike lanes totaling 40 miles of bike pathway, and is gunning to be as bike-friendly as Portland or Seattle.

October 13 - Associated Press

Each year, the American Planning Association singles out neighborhoods that "...represent the gold standard in terms of having a true sense of place, cultural and historical interest, community involvement, and a vision for tomorrow."

October 13 - American Planning Association

A Colorado man has put up a sign warning potential buyers about activities that occur at his house.

October 13 - The Denver Post via 9 News

FEATURE

Driving makes people fatter and less healthy, right? Fanis Grammenos warns planners and urban designers that the answer is not so simple, and misusing the statistics will weaken effective debate.

October 13 - Fanis Grammenos

The city of Lviv in western Ukraine has begun a 9-year initiative to build 168 miles of bicycling infrastructure to the region.

October 13 - TheCityFix.com

While some may be disappointed by how cities aren't yet swarming with robots and automated cars, Frank Swain writes that it's a matter of when we humans can tailor our landscapes to enable the new technology.

October 13 - Slate

Today's war on drugs isn't all that different from Prohibition, writes Stephen Smith, at least in terms of the urban-suburban divide that underlies policy. As cities' reputations clean up, maybe drug policy will evolve accordingly, too.

October 13 - Forbes