The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

An ambitious bill encouraging dense, transit-oriented development in the Seattle area has drawn negative responses from residents who criticize its "one-size-fits-all" approach.

February 21 - Seattle Post-Intelligencer

A suburban city near Austin tried to beautify with a parking ordinance, but city leaders are rethinking it.

February 21 - Austin American-Statesman

William Menking compares the WPA with the current stimulus package and finds many parallels, including an emphasis on shovel-ready projects and a lack of trust in the federal government to plan large-scale infrastructure.

February 20 - The Architect's Newspaper

In Rohnert Park, CA, developers are turning a former industrial site into a green community that is almost completely energy independent. But can a project like this fit into an auto-oriented suburb?

February 20 - WorldChanging

In a recent interview with newspaper columnists, President Barack Obama spent some time discussing the idea of a national infrastructure bank and the chances of one taking shape.

February 20 - The Washington Post

In this NPR interview, Michael Replogle, Environmental Defense Fund's transportation director, points to a 12-lane highway that will be built with stimulus funds that he says exacerbates our dependence on foreign oil and global warming.

February 20 - NPR

What were the inside politics that allowed for the largest investment in high speed rail in the U.S? Politico reports on the Obama-Emanuel workings of the rail investment in the stimulus package - and no, it wasn't based on the LA to Las Vegas route.

February 20 - Politico

The Federal Transit Administration has released its preliminary calculations of how much each of the nation’s transit systems will receive from the overall stimulus bill.

February 20 - Transport Politic

BLOG POST

<span>In her 1998 book <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Towards-Cosmopolis-Planning-Multicultural-Cities/dp/0471971987/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1235094976&amp;sr=1-1"><em>Towards Cosmopolis</em></a>, Leonie Sandercock deconstructs what she calls the “heroic” story of planning history as found in leading texts. These mainstream histories, she says, may champion various (male) heroes such as Ebenezer Howard, Patrick Geddes or Daniel Burnham, but the real hero, she observes, is the planning profession itself.

February 20 - Michael Dudley

Morris Architects seems to think so, taking first prize in a contest for hospitality design with their proposal to turn Gulf of Mexico drilling platforms into vacation destinations.

February 20 - Curbed LA

Leaders in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, are studying how to reduce pollution generated by idling cars at drive-thru windows.

February 20 - NBC DFW

At 3 AM, Feb. 19, the state Senate secured its third Republican vote necessary to pass a budget and fill the $42 billion budget deficit. This article looks at one of many environmental rollbacks demanded by Republicans.

February 20 - Los Angeles Times

More urban professionals are finding the only way to make housing affordable is to live with roommates.

February 20 - AlterNet

Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion has been appointed to the post, which The White House says is tasked with "develop(ing) a strategy for metropolitan America."

February 19 - Sacramento Bee

America's suburbs are no longer impervious to "slumming," as low income earners are forced into places that were once firmly middle class. Therefore, researchers say, anti-poverty measures should go beyond mere suburb relocation.

February 19 - Miller-McCune

The Municipal Art Society wants Coney Island to be bigger and more attractive, but the developer says time-share hotels and big boxes are the key the landmark's financial sustainability.

February 19 - The New York Times

Housing on city fringes may be cheaper, but research has shown that after a certain threshold (about 15 miles), the high cost of commuting is no longer offset by it.

February 19 - Natural Resources Defense Council

APA President Robert B. Hunter is the center of an investigation in Hillsborough County over whether his retirement and subsequent application to be rehired resulted in "double-dipping" at the taxpayer's expense.

February 19 - 10Connects.com

Vancouver architect Gregory Henriquez talks about his innovative mixed-income, mixed use development that will see wealthy and poor residents sharing the same facility.

February 19 - The Globe and Mail

For the first month and a half of 2009, the amount of new cars added daily in Beijing has climbed from 1,350 in 2008 to more than 1,450, bringing more than 65,000 cars into the city so far this year.

February 19 - Agence France Presse via Grist