The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Exxon Predicts Energy Future For World At 2040
By 2040, half of all cars will be hybrids or running on alternative fuels; energy demand will be flat for the developed world but will increase 60% for developing nations, and non-conventional oil sources will handily meet the demand of 110m barrels.
Brooklyn Developers Embark On Race Into The Sky
Long the sole preserve of Manhattan developers, Brooklyn is now the setting for its own race to the sky. Two developers are planning to break ground next year on residential buildings that will loom nearly 100 ft over any of their predecessors.
LA Artist Reopens Derelict JC Penney As Art Complex
An LA based artist is about reopen a 100,000 square foot disused JC Penney as an arts complex in West Houston. The former West Oaks Mall anchor had been vacant for two years before becoming the focus of the new rehab concept.
Desertec Leads European Effort to Harness Saharan Solar Energy
A German led initiative called 'Desertec,' aims to provide 15% of Europe's electricity by 2050 through a vast network of solar and wind farms stretching right across the MENA region and connecting to Europe via direct current transmission cables.
Manhattan's Far West Side Rises From Olympic Disappointment
A vibrant neighborhood is rising on Manhattan's far west side, where the Stadium and complex would have been built as proposed by the New York's bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games.
Washington DC Imagines Itself Without Transit
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is celebrating its 35th anniversary and is finding ways to ascertain exactly what the agency has brought to the region.
$600,00 Pocket Park Completed, Then Bulldozed to Build School
Jessica Garrison reports on how the City of Los Angeles spent $600k designing and building a park that no one ever got to use when it was claimed as a site for a public school.
LA City Council Moves Closer To River Centric Development
The Los Angeles City Council last week approved an update to the Los Angeles River Implementation Overlay to encourage good quality river centric development and begin removing some of the concrete that covers the river and its banks.
Even or Odd? Rome Restricts Car Use
With pollution levels becoming dangerous in Rome, Italy, the government is taking a hard line on driving. In late November, only cars with even-numbered license plates were allowed to drive in the city, with odd plates the next.
FEATURE
Zurich, the World's Best Transit City
Transportation expert Norman Garrick reports on the amazingly effective transit system of Zurich, Switzerland. Garrick says the system is one of the factors that makes Zurich one of the most livable cities in the world.
The Dreamers Behind the Interstate Highway System
Josh Stephens reviews <a>Big Roads</a> by Earl Swift, which profiles Thomas MacDonald and Frank Turner, the civil engineers who made the Interstate Highway System a reality.
What Is Christmas Without the Department Store?
Robert David Sullivan writes that the Main Street America department store is a holiday tradition, a grand public crossroads for celebrating the season.
Tea Party Candidate Nixes Transit Center
They mayor of Troy, Mich. chooses ideology over investment, <em>The Atlantic's</em> says Eric Jaffe.
Readers Respond To Leinberger's 'Death of Fringe Suburb'
The Times published three responses to op-eds by Leinberger and anti-sprawl contributor, Louise A. Mozingo. Univ. of IL urban planning professor and author Robert Bruegmann and Carnegie Endowment director Shin-Pei Tsay present contrasting viewpoints.
The Traumatizing Effect Of Train Suicides
Caltrain, the 77-mile, Gilroy/San Jose - SF commuter railroad, is suffering an unwelcome resurgence of ‘suicide by train’--16 deaths this year, of which 11 are confirmed suicides. Bay Citizen investigates the psychological effect on train engineers.
Ice Cube's LA Vision...at the Eames
In this short video, Ice Cube waxes poetic about Los Angeles' attitude, highways, and landmarks.
The Year's Hottest Design Trends for Housing and Architecture
Builder Magazine picks their top 10, including smaller apartment options, multigenerational households and... minimalist bathrooms.
How Local Manufacturing Can Rub the Rust off the Rust Belt
William Bostwick explores how locally-sourced, niche product manufacturing could help the Rust Belt rise.
ULI Descends Upon LA With Ideas for Union Station
Carter Rubin at LA Metro’s The Source reports on ULI’s vision for Union Station, which Metro bought for a song earlier this year.
For Luxury Apts, City May Exceed Parking Maximums
As plans move forward for luxury apartments on the site of Greenwich Village's former St. Vincent's Hospital, the city is divided over whether to allow an oversized parking garage on-site. The Municipal Art Society particularly cries "fuzzy math."
One Hundred Miles
County of Mendocino
planning NEXT
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Montrose County
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
