The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Local currencies are seeing a resurgence in American communities.

August 12 - Los Angeles Times

There is controversy over new sidewalk laws in Washington, DC.

August 12 - The Washington Post

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<span style="font-size: x-small"> <p> I&#39;m sure much will be written on the observations and learning&#39;s from the 2010 Vancouver-Whistler Winter Olympics and Paralympics process - at least once all those working tirelessly on it have had some time to catch our breath after next year&#39;s monumental event. As you can imagine, we&#39;re already inundated with visitors, questions and critiques, and we still have months to go and much hard work to do. </p>

August 12 - Brent Toderian

Nashville is just one of many cities that have stopped dispersing and penalizing tent city settlements, but instead are relaxing some regulations and providing basic services.

August 12 - Wall Street Journal

Olympic cyclist Chris Boardman unveiled a prototype bicycle design he believes is 20 years ahead of its time. It includes an onboard computer, spokeless wheels and solar power.

August 12 - The Daily Mail

Raising bees, that is. In England, a British government conservation agency is encouraging city dwellers to keep bees on their roofs, and have introduced a new hive design to make the pursuit easier.

August 12 - NY Times: Green

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify" class="MsoNormal"> <span><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Swis721 Cn BT"><strong>Every real estate developer and urban planner knows that Portland, Oregon rocks.</strong></span></span></span> </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify" class="MsoNormal"> <span><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Swis721 Cn BT">It is probably our best civic example in the United States of defining a comprehensive growth strategy for its citizens and staying true to the vision.<span>  </span>The result is an authentic, creative, smart, home grown, artsy, sustainable, eco-friendly, colorful, self sufficient, vibrant, athletic, outdoorsy, walking, biking, multi-generational and experimental lifestyle downtown community where buildings, transit, waterfront festivals, park blocks, fountains, theaters, bookstores, galleries, music, crafts, food, wine, beer, coffee and people all blend together perfectly.<span>  </span>It really works here. But one thing was never done properly and needs to be changed to capture this spirit – the name of the city.</span></span></span><span><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Swis721 Cn BT"> </span></span> </p>

August 11 - Rick Abelson

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<p> A couple of weeks ago, the South Dakota Supreme Court in <em>Anderson</em><em> v. Town of Badger</em> held that a town had the power to grant a waiver of a distance requirement set by Kingsbury County for a CAFO. <a href="http://www.sdjudicial.com/opinions/downloads/y2009/25045.pdf">Click here </a>for the decision. </p> <p> Wait a minute. Why wouldn’t you want to live near a CAFO? What’s a CAFO? It’s not Community Association Facility Operations. It’s not Centralized Area of Fun Outside …no, it’s Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, something akin to dinner time at my fraternity house in the mid-1960s… </p>

August 11 - Dwight Merriam

A recent partnership between Google and Amtrak will allow users of Google Maps / Google Transit to see Amtrak routes as a possible mode of travel, <cite> Webwire </cite> reports.

August 11 - Webwire

While the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance is helping people buy homes, their aim is to build an army of trained homeowners to engage their own neighbors in organizing and advocacy.

August 11 - Shelterforce Magazine

A new report shows that as the population of the U.S. ages, it is likely that more people will rent than own homes, causing a steep decline in the home building industry.

August 11 - Calculated Risk

The Portland, Oregon area is well known for preserving agricultural land separate from urban areas. In the new town of Damascus on the border of the growth boundary, landowners are seeking a way to mix the two.

August 11 - The Oregonian

The housing crisis may be coming to an end, according to some nationwide indexes. And though prices are likely to continue to fall for about a year, some homebuilders are un-pausing their projects and moving forward.

August 11 - Time

More than $2 billion has been cut from redevelopment programs in California's budget, which many say will exacerbate the building slowdown in the state.

August 11 - The Architect's Newspaper

As bankruptcy hearings for two newspapers in Philadelphia unfold, this piece looks at the state of newspapers in cities and wonders what will happen when a big American city loses its newspaper.

August 11 - The New York Times

A new city being planned on 77 acres of agricultural land in Oregon has prompted some to question the hard difference between urban and rural as compartmentalized by the Portland area's urban growth boundary.

August 11 - The Oregonian

The recent corruption bust that resulted in the arrests of more than 40 people in New Jersey shows the interesting shape of the development process in the state.

August 11 - Associated Press

Local businesses on a busy Vancouver street that had been hosting weekly car-free events this summer have protested and effectively cancelled the event.

August 11 - CBC

Gas taxes, parking charges, toll roads - these are the ingredients to making transit successful, according to experts who state that it's not enough to offer good transit - driving must become more expensive. Add to that high density land use.

August 10 - Los Angeles Times

Since the Columbus Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) put bike racks on the front of their buses, so many people have forgotten and left their bikes on board that hundreds of bikes are piling up in the lost and found.

August 10 - The Columbus Dispatch