The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

The city of New York is hoping a new set of cameras will help to catch car drivers using bus-only lanes.

November 23 - The New York Times

Even as New York has pushed forward with 250 miles of new bike lanes, the city is actually removing one 2.35 mile stretch after complaints from motorists.

November 23 - The New York Times

With a growing belief in the streetcars' ability to catalyze redevelopment, cities are jockeying for federal and local funds to build retro transit systems in their downtowns.

November 23 - California Planning & Development Report

Mother Jones magazine reports on how tea party hostility towards "big government" is now being levelled at Agenda 21 and other smart growth initiatives, in the belief that they are part of an international conspiracy.

November 22 - Mother Jones

Lax enforcement of standards created to limit exhaust from idling diesel-powered vehicles and buses shows that there is still work to be done in Mayor Richard Daley's quest to position Chicago atop the list of the nation's greenest cities.

November 22 - The Chicago Tribune

The surge in city investment in bicycle lanes and the recent passing of various pro-bicycle laws has greatly irked many residents. Complaints have been leveled at everything from vehicle flow disruption to "extraordinarily ugly" lane paint choices.

November 22 - The New York Times

A group of citizens calling themselves Destination Bayfront have led the charge to turn their underused waterfront into a destination hotspot.

November 22 - Project for Public Spaces blog

Colloseo, a restaurant in San Francisco's North Beach, wants to feature Luca, their opera-singing waiter, as part of the ambience. The Telegraph Hill Dwellers, an influential neighborhood situation, says no.

November 22 - The San Francisco Chronicle

FEATURE

Planetizen is pleased to release its ninth annual list of the ten best books in urban planning, design and development published in 2010. This year's selection includes some big names, some big ideas -- and a book called "Toilet."

November 22 - Abhijeet Chavan

While builders still see social media as "consuming to sustain and difficult to track", they are experimenting more and more with unconventional ways to connect with potential buyers over the Internet.

November 22 - Builder Magazine

The mayor of Mt. Clemens, Michigan is turning to an unlikely source to help pay for stretched city services -- local non-profits. With 42% of city property tax exempt, Mayor Dempsey is asking non-profits to pay as if they were taxed.

November 22 - Detroit Free Press

DOT Secretary Ray LaHood's passion is eliminating the threat of distracted driving from cellphones and texting. Now he's taking it a step further and saying the in the future cellphone scramblers might be mandatory in cars.

November 22 - Switched

Details are now just emerging about a proposal from NYC Mayor Bloomberg to further extend the IRT #7 line from the West Side station by a planned, massive new development, Hudson Yards. Cheaper than a commuter rail tunnel, it would serve NJ Transit.

November 22 - The New York Times - N.Y. / Region

Shopping malls are scattered all over Bangkok. On one hand they create a distinct urban setting in the city, but they also fall far short of creating actual community, according to this post.

November 21 - This Big City

This post from GOOD points to an old map of the Western U.S. in which state lines are redrawn based on the locations of watersheds.

November 21 - Good

A historic tree near the campus of Stanford University is the centerpiece of a fight to redirect California's planned high speed rail project.

November 21 - Peninsula Press

Expansion of transit has helped fuel a boost in ridership over the last decade in Charlotte. But with falling tax revenues, the city looks unlikely to be able to continue its planned transit growth.

November 21 - the transport politic

<em>Urban Omnibus</em> offers a summary of the recent debate that went down over the future of Harvard's Graduate School of Design concerning urban design, landscape urbanism and new urbanism.

November 21 - Urban Omnibus

<em>99% Invisible</em> talks with Chris Downey, an architect who lost his sight three years ago and who continues to work.

November 20 - 99% Invisible

A Russian construction company wants to build a 100,000-person city in an abandoned diamond mine, and cover it with a dome.

November 20 - Wired UK