The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Spurning an elaborate but costly proposal to transform two blighted blocks of Sacramento's ailing downtown K Street mall the city council chose a less costly, mixed-use plan restore the blocks sooner with four story buildings and 256 housing units.

July 16 - The Sacramento Bee - Sacramento City News

Sarasota County, Florida finds that one mixed use building generates 36 times the property taxes per acre as the region's largest high end mall. Mary Newsom reports that "evidence is piling up to show the benefits of compact, in-town development."

July 15 - Citiwire

The Urbanophile explains that although Lebron James was never going to turn around Cleveland alone, his departure is indicative of the city's reliance "on a never-ending cycle of “next big things” to reverse decline."

July 15 - New Geography

The economic recession is lightening up in some areas, but cities and municipalities will continue to struggle with the downturn in the economy for years, mainly because of falling property tax revenues.

July 15 - NPR

City Parks Blog asked Peter Harnik to answer questions about his new book, Urban Green: Innovative Parks for Resurgent Cities, that covers how cities can plan for parks as well as how to create them in 'all built-out' settings.

July 15 - City Parks Blog

The city of Seattle is taking on a $500 million project to update its storm drains to reduce the amount of untreated sewage that overflows into waterways during storm events.

July 15 - The Seattle Times

Christopher Hawthorne says that new Civic Park in downtown Los Angeles, which breaks ground this morning, "shows the strain" of trying to reconcile differing visions, but it also has "a coherent aesthetic identity."

July 15 - The Los Angeles Times

A decades-old plan to convert a bus yard into a housing project has gained new momentum in San Francisco.

July 15 - The San Francisco Examiner

This post from <em>Spacing Toronto</em> gives a personal look at the conversion of a car parking space into a bicycle parking area -- and how quickly the facility filled up.

July 15 - Spacing Toronto

Charlotte recently won a $25 million federal grant to begin construction on a streetcar system. <em>The Charlotte Observer</em> goes over some of the system's basics.

July 15 - The Charlotte Observer

Vancouver's streets are buzzing with a new wave of street food vendors, part of a pilot program to expand formalized informal commerce downtown.

July 15 - Globe and Mail

With the Russian spies being sent home, Clifford J. Levy wondered if they'd miss the comforts of U.S.-style suburban living. What he found is that today's Russia has imitated the way of life, including gated communities with American names.

July 14 - The New York Times

By an 8-3 vote at 1:35 AM, July 14, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a plan to add 10,500 homes (32% affordable) on a 720-acre brownfield site known as Hunters Point, a former shipyard, including 320 acres of parkland and open space.

July 14 - San Francisco Chronicle

Detroit is a city of borders: international borders, borders between cities and not-cities, and borders between the success of the past and the uncertain future, writes Jerry Herron in this essay for <em>Places</em>.

July 14 - Places

10 years after a town in England declared itself a "fairtrade" town, the ethical trading movement has grown to 500 towns across the world.

July 14 - Guardian

Lawmakers in New Jersey have approved a bill that will limit annual property tax increases to 2%.

July 14 - The New York Times

Like many transit agencies across the country, the economic recession has limited the capacity of Chicago's CTA to maintain itself. <em>Governing</em> talks with the man tasked with saving -- and recreating -- the troubled system.

July 14 - Governing

A new book looks at the environmental, energy, and social consequences of keeping cool by using air conditioners. In this 4-minute public radio interview, author Stan Cox explains how to keep cool, just in time for the East Coast heat wave.

July 14 - American Public Media: Marketplace

A exhibit currently at the Centre Pompidou in Paris called "Dreamlands" looks at the lasting and deep influence of themed environments and amusement parks on how we think about cities.

July 14 - Aesthetica Magazine

The AIA Guide to New York City was last updated 10 years ago, and the latest version shows an explosion of glassy residential towers. James Russell says the guide is "monumental."

July 14 - Bloomberg News