The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

A group of local artists in Omaha, Nebraska are putting their mark on old grain elevators located right in the heart of the city, making the art pieces an Omaha fixture.

October 4 - WebUrbanist

In an obviously difficult market for new housing, Cross Creek Ranch is standing out from the pack with a master-planned community that restores a degraded dirt parcel to a native landscape.

October 4 - Builder Magazine

Allison Arieff says it is high time that the "dumb box" that makes up the majority of suburban housing be rethought to meet the needs of a new generation, presenting a small handful of homebuilders that are making an effort.

October 3 - The New York Times

Preservationists are all about preserving our past. Urbanists are all about harvesting lessons from what the preservationists fight for -- to create better places in the future. Seems like these two groups would get along quite well. But no.

October 3 - PlaceShakers

Thanks to massive projects fuelled by developers rather than retailers, and official efforts to spur a consumer economy, China is becoming home to massive, deserted malls.

October 3 - The Globe and Mail

FEATURE

October 3 - Tatiane de Jesus

Since 2002, California has added 8.3% more drivers while reducing its gasoline consumption by 3.5%. And while taking the lead, they are not alone in this trend. Credit high fuel prices, economic stress and improved car technology for the reduction.

October 3 - Los Angeles Times - Business

In Ithaca, New York, Robert Steuteville's hometown, a small ad hoc music festival with bands performing on local porches has become a big deal, showing what a big difference a little tactical urbanism can make.

October 3 - New Urban News Network

Laura Tepper explains "road ecology", the intersection between transportation planning and habitat conservation.

October 3 - Places

Jarrett Walker rides on the Wellington Cable Car, giving him the opportunity to explain the four conditions for when a funicular is a sensible transit solution.

October 3 - Human Transit

World annual death toll due to particulate pollution from indoor and outdoor sources is 2 million people each year, according to a new report from the World Health Organization.

October 3 - USA Today

In this Climate Watch blog and accompanying "Miles To Go" radio report, the reporter observes how powerful parking rated as a factor in determining whether to drive, walk, or take transit, and the public policies that affect the quantity of parking.

October 3 - KQED News: Climate Watch

A group of traffic and infrastructure consultants along with NGOS and academics have banded together to spread better bicycle infrastructure around the world.

October 2 - Streetsblog

A handful of Washington insiders argue that while Obama is calling for the creation of a national infrastructure bank, there is already such an entity in existence and ready to assume the role.

October 2 - The Washington Post

"...all architecture – most especially that which thinks its not – is now Post Modern," writes Sam Jacob.

October 2 - Strange Harvest

Social activists have reacted sharply to the Indian Planning Commission's report that 25 rupees (50 cents) and 31 rupees a day is sufficient for people in rural and urban areas, respectively. Jyoti Malhotra reports on the ongoing debate.

October 2 - India Real Time (Wall Street Journal)

The current observation is that the urban poor are moving to the suburbs. Alon Levy says that this is nothing new, and the current effects of such movement is in fact just the "tipping point" of what's been happening for the last 50 years.

October 2 - Pedestrian Observations

BLOG POST

<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small"> </span> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt">The Los Angeles Times recently had a <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-fi-solyndra-20110925,0,1536191.story" target="_blank" title="Solyndra's collapse is a tale of too much dazzle">story</a> about the collapse of Solyndra – the once heralded poster-child of the Obama administration’s green jobs plan.  A big part of Solyndra’s demise was due to the rapidly falling price of their competitors’ solar panels.  In 2008, the cost of solar panels was a bit over $4 for each watt generated.  Solyndr

October 1 - Marlon Boarnet

Starting in 2002, the Colorado legislature began to make it easier to foreclose on properties in Colorado. Original loan documents are no longer required to prove the bank actually owns the property.

October 1 - The Denver Post

BLOG POST

In April 2009, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan spoke to the ULI Spring Council Forum in Atlanta; he stated that his administration’s goal was “to put the UD back in HUD,” and explained that HUD’s over-reliance on housing solutions wasn’t helping cities address their complex revitalization needs. Just over two years later, this small new funding program caught my eye on a list of new HUD announcements: <p class="MsoNormal"> *** HUD HOPE VI – $0.5 million<br /> Application Due: August 22, 2011<br /> Eligible Entities: Local governments </p>

October 1 - Jess Zimbabwe