The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

A group of San Francisco farmers are turning a former freeway into a productive urban farm.

February 9 - Streetsblog San Francisco

John King is surprised to find that a bold plan for a public space has somehow squeaked through the Berkeley, CA planning process in an area between BART and campus.

February 9 - The San Francisco Chronicle

What housing slump? Canada's real estate recovery has been so fast, some analysts worry it signals a return to speculation.

February 9 - Wall Street Journal

Americans are starting to value experiences over things, according to a new poll. Nearly half of Americans report spending less time purchasing non-essential goods, while many are spending more time on friends, family, and hobbies.

February 9 - New York Times

A new 350kph train connecting Zhengzhou and Xi'an debuted Saturday, cutting a 6 hour train ride down to less than 2 hours.

February 9 - China Daily

A press conference was held in Paris to draw attention to the problem of "increasingly large and unsympathetic buildings" cropping up around the City of Lights.

February 9 - INTBAU News

Florida voters are facing an amendment this November that could dramatically reshape the way local planning occurs.

February 9 - St. Petersburg Times

A new study ranks the U.S. states by residents' happiness. From Louisiana (#1) to New York (#51), the happiest people tend to live in sunny, outdoorsy states with strong quality of life measures.

February 9 - USA Today

Washington County, Utah invites the public once a year to see what transportation projects are in the works and talk to planners and engineers. The meet-and-greet has proved highly popular and a way for information to flow both ways.

February 9 - The Spectrum and Daily News

The online walkability tool is sexy but not perfect. Real estate site are beginning to use it; could planners use it too? Bill Fulton gives his two cents.

February 9 - California Planning & Development Report

Anthony Flint reports from the New Partners for Smart Growth Conference, where the Feds all spoke about coordinating at the federal level to implement smart growth policies.

February 8 - Lincoln Institute of Land Policy blog

The Royal Hawaiian Estates, a tiki-themed apartment complex built in 1962, was designated an historic district by the City of Palm Springs.

February 8 - The Desert Sun (Palm Springs)

City Creek Center is a $1 billion mixed-use development project that some say is a godsend for downtown Salt Lake City, creating jobs during a tough economy. Others wonder how the church's influence will play out in the culture of the project.

February 8 - The New York Times

Fast Company pulls together a handful of recent reports to paint a grim picture for the suburbs, as the number of people living in poverty rises, housing values decline, and infrastructure built in the 60s and 70s erodes.

February 8 - Fast Company

Bill Fulton was prepping for a panel on transferable development rights programs for last weekend's New Partners for Smart Growth conference in Seattle when he realized the hotel he was in was the beneficiary of just such a program.

February 8 - California Planning & Development Report

BLOG POST

<p> <span><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman">As planners, one of our roles is to help stretch the scope of what is considered possible. For example, between 1950 and 2000 most development was highly automobile-dependent, based on the assumption that almost all travel would be by personal automobile and other modes were relatively unimportant. This pattern is so well established that many people have difficulty imagining anything different. It is useful to help people understand the full range of options available, from automobile dependency to carfree communities. </span></span></span> </p>

February 8 - Todd Litman

FEATURE

Hoboken, New Jersey's Department of Transportation and Parking Director Ian Sacs offers this profile of his city and discusses how the dense but car-enamored city is trying to tackle the contemporary urban parking problem.

February 8 - Ian Sacs

California's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, or AB 32, is known throughout the U.S. as being the landmark state legislation that addresses climate change. It is the target of an initiative that aims to suspend it unless unemployment drops.

February 8 - Los Angeles Times

What's good for the Bronx turns out to be good for upstate NY. In this case, a Plattsburgh bus manufacturer has received the first orders for what is promoted as the "bus of the future of NYC transit": 3-doors, articulated, low-floor, & low emission.

February 8 - Second Ave. Sagas

BLOG POST

<p> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Crash-Course-American-Automobile-Industrys/dp/1400068630/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1265641815&amp;sr=1-1"><strong>Crash Course: </strong></a><strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Crash-Course-American-Automobile-Industrys/dp/1400068630/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1265641815&amp;sr=1-1">The American Automobile Industry&#39;s Road from Glory to Disaster</a><br /> By Paul Ingrassia<br /> Random House, 306 pages, $32</strong> </p> <p> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Carjacked-Culture-Automobile-Effect-Lives/dp/0230618138/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1265641921&amp;sr=1-1"><strong>Carjacked: The Culture of the Automobile</strong> </a><strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Carjacked-Culture-Automobile-Effect-Lives/dp/0230618138/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1265641921&amp;sr=1-1">and its Effect on Our Lives</a><br /> By Catherine Lutz and Anne Lutz Fernandez<br /> Palgrave, 272 pages, $34</strong> </p> <p> Automobiles dominate our economies, our cities and our popular culture. As these new titles make abundantly apparent, they also tend to imbue their makers and owners with either delusions or arrogance that can lead to dangerously misguided decision-making, both behind the wheel and in corporate boardrooms.

February 8 - Michael Dudley