The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Speaking today at the Center for National Policy in D.C., Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood touted the success of the ARRA stimulus package and answered questions on transportation bill reauthorization and other topics.

July 15 - TheCityFix

Back in 1971, Alvin Duskin mounted an all-out campaign to limit buildings in San Francisco to 72 feet. Today, he is one of many Bay Area activists reconsidering density.

July 15 - San Francisco Chronicle

A perfect storm of projects, ranging from a new busway to an expanding sports arena, is just beginning to disrupt life in the village of Rozelle, Australia. Construction could continue past 2020.

July 15 - The Sydney Morning Herald

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed into law a bill that will bring about $31 billion worth of road, transit and school construction projects.

July 15 - Chicago Tribune

Cities can expand transit service areas by providing convenient access by bike.

July 15 - City Parks Blog

A 14-mile road segment that would connect two highways in Texas is a contender for stimulus funding in the state. But it would also cause the removal of at least 23 acres of wetlands. Environmentalists are upset the proposal is being considered.

July 15 - The Houston Chronicle

Sales in Brooklyn are down, and that's made a ghost town out of the recently booming but now busted Williamsburg neighborhood.

July 15 - New York Magazine

The convenience store announced it would open 200 new stores this year. A rep said that attractive locations had opened up for the retailer that were previously too expensive.

July 15 - The New York Times

Bicycles are being collected and distributed to Chattanooga's homeless in an attempt to improve their quality of life.

July 15 - Chattanooga Times Free Press

Vancouver, B.C. is experimenting with closing one lane of the Burrard Bridge to traffic to add a bike lane. Cheryl Chan reports from Day 1 of the lane closure. Was traffic affected?

July 14 - The Province

Via the White House, here are the President's opening remarks at yesterday's roundtable discussions with the Office of Urban Affairs and the Domestic Policy Council. He highlighted success stories in Denver, Kansas City, and Philadelphia.

July 14 - WhiteHouse.gov

BLOG POST

<p> <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New'">Over various blog posts through the last few years, I&#39;ve shared some of the key steps and stages leading to the eventual unanimous Council approval of <a href="/node/33517" target="_blank">Vancouver&#39;s EcoDensity Initiative</a>. Since then the EcoDensity Charter and new policies have been changing the way we think about density, green building and site design, and our ecological footprint in and outside of city hall. We&#39;ve also been moving forward on various EcoDensity actions approved in principle by Council back in 2008.

July 14 - Brent Toderian

In the continuing battle between architects and Prince Charles, the Prince has resigned from the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings after it rejected the foreword he had written for an upcoming handbook on restoration.

July 14 - The Independent (UK)

This interactive map from <em>Good</em>'s Water issue highlight seven regions in the world that are likely to experience conflict over water shortages.

July 14 - Good

BLOG POST

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'">All forms of public decision-making are subject to controversy and competing expectations. Many of these relate to the perceived utility gained -- or disutility incurred -- through public expenditures.

July 14 - Michael Dudley

Federal stimulus money is bringing a new health center to a Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Locals are hopeful that the new development will add some prosperity to their poor area, but nobody's especially confident that it will.

July 14 - The New York Times

A paper published earlier this year by a team of professors argues that cities need to learn to become more resilient as resources become more scarce.

July 14 - ASLA's The Dirt blog

The city of Vancouver is going to begin requiring that a certain amount of electric car charging stations be included in all new residential developments.

July 14 - CBC

This op-ed piece in the Globe and Mail argues that plans for a high-speed rail link between the Albertan cities of Calgary and Edmonton makes eminent sense -- at least, according to the thinking of Richard Florida and colleagues.

July 14 - The Globe and Mail

Julia Galef takes a look at Secure Cities, a new website that maps the effect of security measures on public space since 9/11.

July 14 - Metropolis Magazine