The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

The Olympic Village in Vancouver's Southeast False Creek has earned a platinum rating in the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED for Neighborhood Development rating system.

February 16 - CTV

Inspired by the home-grown Park(ing) Day parking spot conversion event, the city of San Francisco is launching a pilot project to convert street parking in its North Beach neighborhood to outdoor dining areas and public spaces.

February 16 - San Francisco Chronicle

Chicago's suburbs are growing taller, adding density and height like never before. Blair Kamin argues that these small towns are facing an identity crisis, stuck uncomfortably between city and suburb.

February 16 - Cityscapes (Blair Kamin)

Lisa Rouchon of The Globe and Mail says that Vancouver's Olympic Village might not be a cure-all for the city's problems, but it is a well-planned vision for the future.

February 16 - The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

Boulder Colorado has tried peer pressure, free weatherization services, and intense publicity, but so far, voluntary efforts to increase energy efficiency have yielded mediocre results.

February 16 - Wall Street Journal

The rough economy has made code officers negotiators between irked neighbors and entrepreneurs trying to make a living in their living rooms.

February 16 - Wall Street Journal

National City, CA has only 2 acres of public parks per 1000 residents, as opposed to the national average of 10 acres. A new plan proposes to transform a 44-acre golf course into an innovative new central park.

February 16 - The San Diego Union-Tribune

San Francisco, Portland, and San Diego lead the charge to ensure everything from power grids to building codes are prepared for arrival of electric cars.

February 16 - New York Times

Pleasantville, NY may be affluent and amenity-rich, but it isn't immune to the economic downturn. Now some suggest the town should sacrifice character for economic opportunity.

February 16 - New York Times

With the threat of its sale bringing the prospect of hilltop housing development behind the city's most well-known icon, the hills near the Hollywood sign in L.A. have spurred local activists to drape a new anti-development message over the sign.

February 15 - The New York Times

Vancouver lost its Triple A credit rating after being forced to bail out its Olympic Athletes Village when the hedge fund that had backed it went under -- just one of the unpredicted events that made this a Recession Olympics.

February 15 - Financial Times

BLOG POST

<p> As managing editor of Planetizen, I&#39;d like to make a quick note on today&#39;s op-ed, <a href="/node/42927">Resisting Dickensian Gloom</a> by Tony Recsei. Mr Recsei asked for a chance to respond to <a href="/node/42679">a recent criticism of his work</a> by Planetizen regular Michael Dudley. It is our policy at Planetizen to allow points of view that are critical of the status quo in urban planning, so I agreed to run the piece. I did ask Mr. Recsei to tone down some of the more personal attacks on smart growthers so that his points could be presented more clearly to our audience, and I believe he has done that. </p>

February 15 - Tim Halbur

The projects receiving funding through the federal government's roughly $8 billion high speed rail investment travel through more than 40% of congressional districts. Analysts predict this will encourage more legislators to push for related funds.

February 15 - The New York Times

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing is reportedly open to the idea of downsizing the city, and is looking for other fresh ideas to help the city's economy return to a sustainable place.

February 15 - The Detroit News

Amid the economic recession, Habitat for Humanity is transitioning from the construction of single-family homes to more affordable condominiums.

February 15 - The Washington Post

FEATURE

High-density development in Australia is causing more greenhouse gases than the suburbs, argues Dr. Tony Recsei of the group Save Our Suburbs, in this rebuttal of a blog post by Michael Dudley.

February 15 - Tony Recsei

This paper animation clip by Rob Carter shows the urban growth and development of Charlotte, North Carolina over time.

February 14 - Good

Mike Lydon discusses the importance of creating "bikeway networks" -- systems of bike lanes and infrastructures that have varied forms for varied situations.

February 14 - Reconnecting America

The town of Holyoke, Massachusetts has hired Cisco to create a technology-led urban revitalization plan.

February 14 - Fast Company

Writing for <em>The New York Times</em>, Timothy Egan takes a look at some of the empty cities that were abandoned after the housing crash, and why they will be the slums of tomorrow.

February 14 - NYTimes: Opinionator Blog