The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

The Feds have given the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA-E) $151 million to look at some highly unusual ways of creating energy. Are they so crazy they just might work -- or just plain crazy?

November 3 - The Christian Science Monitor

This piece from <em>The New York Times</em> looks at the role of private gardens and public-facing landscaping in the city of Baghdad.

November 3 - The New York Times

<em>The Architect's Newspaper</em> reports on the first demolition of a historic building on the Walter Gropius-designed Michael Reese hospital campus in Chicago, the proposed site of now-ditched plans for an Olympic Village.

November 3 - The Architect's Newspaper

The ongoing trial of a California driver who allegedly injured two cyclists on purpose has become a rallying point for cyclists around the country, who are hoping the verdict elicits greater respect to cyclists from motorists.

November 3 - Los Angeles Times

A recent study of health insurance costs finds that people who live in suburban areas outside of Chicago pay less for health insurance than those who live in the urban core.

November 3 - Chicago Sun-Times

Residents in Vancouver are reportedly in favor of keeping a dedicated lane for pedestrians and cyclists on a local bridge. Even some motorists are in support.

November 3 - The Vancouver Sun

The motherlode of wind energy up, up in the air, say scientists. A handful of new technologies are being developed to harvest it at the source, roughly six miles up.

November 3 - Miller-McCune

BLOG POST

<p> &quot;Don&#39;t Bogart That Joint, My Friend&quot; </p> <p> Lyrics: <em>Lawrence</em><em> Wagner</em><br /> Music: <em>Elliot Ingber</em> </p> <p> <em>(on the soundtrack of &quot;Easy Rider&quot;) </em> </p> <p> <em><span style="text-decoration: underline">Chorus</span></em><br /> Don&#39;t bogart that joint my friend<br /> Pass it over to me<br /> Don&#39;t bogart that joint my friend<br /> Pass it over to me </p> <p> Roll another one<br /> Just like the other one<br /> You&#39;ve been holding on to it<br /> And I sure will like a hit </p> <p> [<em>chorus</em>] </p> <p> Roll another one<br /> Just like the other one<br /> That one&#39;s burned to the end<br /> Come on and be a real friend </p> <p> [<em>chorus</em>] </p> <p> Marijuana is prescribed for certain medical conditions, such as pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation. Since 1996, <a href="http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/54">at least 13 states have legalized</a> the sale of medical marijuana. </p> <p> Now, check your zoning regulations and see what districts allow this land use: &quot;Retail Sales – Medical Marijuana.&quot; Couldn’t find it, right? </p>

November 2 - Dwight Merriam

Officials in Oakland, CA are pioneering a new method of measuring the health impact of development, going beyond EIRs to get a more fully-fleshed assessment.

November 2 - Sustainable Industries

Ford Motor Co. is reporting almost $1b in profits in the third quarter. CEO Alan Mulally credits the Cash for Clunkers program and cost cutting for their success.

November 2 - The Los Angeles Times

David Villano takes an in-depth survey of the state of public engagement practices in the U.S., and the positive effects of the processes that work.

November 2 - Miller-McCune

When it comes to Houston's light rail, Randal O'Toole says you're doing it wrong. Planners are trumpeting high ridership numbers, but O'Toole says the numbers show an overall decline in Houston's transit ridership.

November 2 - The Antiplanner

"Greenwich South" is a proposed re-branding of an area near the World Trade Center site, driven by The Alliance for Downtown New York and re-envisioned by ten different architectural firms.

November 2 - GOOD Magazine

Paul Shigley reports that Duany spoke to planners at an event in Sacramento, and has a new issue: the broken process for getting things built.

November 2 - California Planning & Development Report

BLOG POST

<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri">An important new book, </span><a href="http://www.convergencepartnership.org/atf/cf/%7B245a9b44-6ded-4abd-a392-ae583809e350%7D/HEALTHTRANS_FULLBOOK_FINAL.PDF"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri">Healthy, Equitable Transportation Policy: Recommendations and Research</span></a>,<span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri"> and its summary report, </span><a href="http://www.convergencepartnership.org/atf/cf/%7B245a9b44-6ded-4abd-a392-ae583809e350%7D/TRANSPORTATIONRX.PDF"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri">The Transportation Prescription: Bold New Ideas for Healthy, Equitable Transportation Reform in America</span></a>,<span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri"> were just published by the <a href="http://www.convergencepartnership.org/transportationhealthandequity">Convergence Partnership</a></span><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri">, a coalition that supports more rational and equitable health policy.</span> </p> <p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal">

November 2 - Todd Litman

Journalists may be overplaying the desolation of Detroit by lustily photographing a few key ruins and cropping well-kept factories out of the picture.

November 2 - Vice Magazine

Paris and JCDecaux promise to forge on with the popular bike program, despite having lost thousands of bikes to recklessness and vandalism.

November 2 - The New York Times

A proposed plan from Gensler and 4240 Architecture would turn an abandoned rail line in Chicago into an energy-generating, food-growing powerhouse. Oh, and a park too.

November 2 - Fast Company

BART beat previous records for ridership on Weds. after a piece of the Bay Bridge that was fixed over the Memorial Day weekend failed.

November 2 - Transportation For America blog

FEATURE

Can today's contemporary architects, schooled in modernism and invention, in fact incorporate the sort of green building materials and techniques that make a real difference? And does design really matter? Josh Stephens takes a look.

November 1 - Josh Stephens