The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
NPR Reports On Freeway Conversion Movement
WCPN reporter interviews a commuter who is annoyed by a plan to make her commute longer - but it becomes clear that the suburbanite's faster commute is at the expense of an urban neighborhood.
Bike Plan Foresees Vastly Different Los Angeles
The recent adoption of a citywide bicycle plan in Los Angeles could bring about broad changes to the city's physical environment.
The "Socialist Developer"
Greg O'Connell has been called that, for his community-developing strategies that helped transform Red Hook. His new target: the small town of Mount Morris in upstate New York.
New York City's Grid Turns 200
The street grid of New York City was born 200 years ago in an early map of the city.
Municipal Bond Defaults Unlikely
Many voices have raised concerns over municipalities defaulting on bonds during these tough economic times. But as this op-ed argues, those concerns are misguided.
Cities See Mixed Returns on Spring Training Investments
While some cities in Florida have shelled out big money to build baseball stadia for professional teams' spring training, many of those teams are moving their spring programs to other cities, raising concerns about the wisdom of those investments.
Hamburg Considers Sky Tram
Officials in Hamburg, Germany are considering a plan to build an aerial tram connecting two of the city's popular neighborhoods.
Redevelopment on its Deathbed
As lawmakers in California wrangle over the state's budget, redevelopment agencies appear to be days away from being killed.
Regional Planning Begins To Meet CA's Stricter Emissions Standards
Two Bay Area planning agencies have jointly released what they call their "Initial Vision Scenario", a first step in implementing the Sustainable Community Strategy required by state law (SB 375, 2008) to reduce climate emissions from transportation.
Bus Standards Changed for Heavier Americans
The Federal Transit Authority (FTA) has been making decisions for years about transit capacity using weight standards from 1962. The FTA is proposing to update the average American from 150 to 175 pounds to better reflect reality.
Toronto Set to Launch Bike-Sharing Program
BIXI, a bicycle-sharing program that first launched in Montreal, is due to launch in Toronto in May.
BLOG POST
City Livability Rankings, and the struggle for the Complete City
<span style="font-size: small">A few weeks ago, the Economist Intelligence Unit (the business side of Economist magazine) released its <strong><a href="/node/48218" target="_blank">annual global Livable Cities rankings</a></strong></span><span style="font-size: small">. Like the similar Mercer rankings, the EIU efforts aren't officially meant for urbanist's bragging rights - such rankings are used in human resource circles in corporate placements, related to such tools as "hardship allowances".
BLOG POST
What the foreclosure data teaches us
<p> I recently finished reading <em>Foreclosing the Dream</em>, by William Lucy. The most interesting parts of this book are the first chapter and the last appendix, both of which tell us where foreclosures are (or at least were in 2008, before the foreclosure crisis morphed into an international economic downturn). These figures seem to me to debunk at least a couple of the more popular explanations of the foreclosure crisis, such as: </p> <p> Myth 1: "Its all the fault of too much lending to the urban poor." </p>
Inside the Park Slope Bike Lane Battle
Reporter Matthew Shaer talks with folks on both sides of the highly contentious lawsuit seeking to remove a bike lane from Brookyln's Park Slope neighborhood.
Chandigarh Endangered
Le Corbusier's modernist city, long a target of criticism from urban planners, is reportedly being sold off piece by piece. Preservationists are incensed and are leading an effort to preserve the city's signature style.
Wetlands and Airports: A Surprisingly Effective Combination
When the airport was built in Santa Barbara, California, engineers dammed the surrounding wetlands to prevent flooding and to keep birds from gathering. A new restoration refutes those conclusions, and paves (or unpaves) the way for other airports.
Reconstructing Bucky's Dymaxion Car
Architect Norman Foster, who worked with Buckminster Fuller towards the end of his life, recently rebuilt Fuller's Dymaxion Car to exacting specifications. Metropolis Magazine interviewed Foster about what we can still learn from the Dymaxion design.
Reimagining Detroit
Corey Hill examines the experimentation at work to rebuild Detroit, from green manufacturing to community-led economic initiatives. But the municipal and state governments may be getting in the way.
The Costs of Sprawl Defined
The financial consequences of sprawl are steep, and also broad, affecting budgets in places we might not even think of, writes architect Steve Mouzon.
FEATURE
$4 per Gallon Gas – Are We Ready?
With gas prices increasing rapidly, Scott Bernstein of the Center for Neighborhood Technology says the most effective solution is to reduce the demand by creating more "location-efficient" communities.
Smith Gee Studio
City of Charlotte
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
US High Speed Rail Association
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
