The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

L.A. Has More Bike and Ped Share Than Portland

Ryan Bradley takes a walk across Los Angeles to reflect on the city's transportation history.

May 18 - GOOD Magazine

A New Neighborhood for Chicago

The site of an ex-steel factory, the 369-acre South Works site is being rebuilt as an urban nieghborhood.

May 18 - The Architect's Newspaper

Small Efforts in Fight Against Cincinnati Food Deserts

A major grocer in Ohio is trying to keep some of its smaller stores open in areas that would otherwise be food deserts. But profits are hard to come by, and stores continue to move out of town.

May 18 - The Cincinnati Enquirer

Eye in the Sky Maps Ancient Maya

Advanced laser imaging technology known as lidar has proven to be an effective and fast way to map ancient Mayan villages.

May 18 - The New York Times

Best Cities to Get Laid... Off

These 10 American cities top the nation as being home to the most layoffs. California is a hotbed.

May 18 - ABC


City Going Broke Maintaining Public Spaces

The City of Walnut, California says it is shelling out $300,000 a year to light streets and maintain public parks and plazas. The property tax assessment that is supposed to pay for maintainance hasn't been increased since the 1990s.

May 17 - The San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Building Boom In Land Of Foreclosures

It seems inconceivable - building new homes next to new, vacant homes, but with depressed prices for land and labor a new market for home-buyers who missed out on foreclosure sales has developed in states hit worst by the housing crisis.

May 17 - The New York Times - Business Day


Creative Reuse Nets Local Food

What can you do with an old crane factory? Turn it into a fish farm, and a hydroponic produce operation.

May 17 - Wall Street Journal

LaHood Rides MagLev

The line may only be 12 miles, but the train speeds at 312 mph. The Secretary of Transportation was in Japan as part of the effort to bring high speed rail to the U.S. though it's not clear whether he is in fact considering the maglev technology.

May 17 - The New York Times - Global Business

Working From Home: An Urban Planning Revolution

A piece in The Atlantic argues that telecommuting trends could have significant impacts on the built environment.

May 17 - The Atlantic

FEATURE

Turning Downtown into Suburbia – The Case of Hartford, Connecticut

When we think of sprawl, we usually picture suburban life. But inner cities also took on the character of sprawl when freeways came in and were buildings torn down, say Christopher T. McCahill and Norman Garrick.

May 17 - Norman Garrick

Senate Climate Bill Called A Gas Tax

The American Power Act climate legislation</a> by Senators Kerry and Lieberman, unveiled May 12, does have fees that oil refineries must pay, but is it a stretch to call the bill a disguised gas tax? Edmunds.com analyses American Solutions charge.

May 17 - Edmunds.com

Evolving Beyond the Long Commute

Car commutes used to be long by necessity. But that's no longer the case, according to Richard Florida in this video from <em>The Atlantic</em>.

May 17 - The Atlantic

Trying to Fit In With the Cool Kids

This post from <em>The Urbanophile</em> explores the world of city branding, and argues that some cities are making the mistake of ignoring their own assets and focusing on trying to embrace the successful assets of others.

May 17 - The Urbanophile

Explaining Houston's Lack of Effective Public Transit

Despite being one of the largest cities in the U.S., public transit in Houston has not kept up with its population growth. Kristie Lewis offers five reasons why.

May 17 - The Infrastructurist

Cities Seek to Quantify Rise in Bicycle Ridership

Planners in cities across the country are installing electronic sensors to track how many people are making use of bike lanes and trails.

May 17 - USA Today

BLOG POST

I Am Not a Monkey, and Other Lessons From Planning School

<p> Tomorrow morning, I&#39;ll don a long black robe, a funny-looking hat and an atrocious brown hood to cap off an adventuresome journey through planning school. Almost two years ago, <a href="/node/34730">I decided to leave a healthy career</a> in journalism to enter a field that, by contrast, might still <em>have</em> careers a decade from now. It&#39;s been 21 months of angst, overwork, undersleep, and hours-long battles with American FactFinder. And it&#39;s been completely, totally worth it. </p> <p> Here are a few of the best lessons learned from two hard-fought years of planning education. </p>

May 16 - Jeffrey Barg

Bridge Construction Shutters Famous Skate Area

Bridge construction in New York City threatens to shut down an infamous and informal skatepark.

May 16 - The New York Times

The Rapid Growth of China's Rapid Transit

This post from <em>The Transport Politic</em> tracks the growth and planned expansion of rapid transit projects all across China

May 16 - the transport politic

A Possible Dead End for High Speed Rail

Despite what seemed to be a gung-ho Federal government, high speed rail could flop in the U.S., according to this piece from <em>The Infrastructurist</em>.

May 16 - The Infrastructurist

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