The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

FEATURE

October 19 - Fanis Grammenos

Tara Lohan reviews David Owen's new book, Green Metropolis, which extols the ecological virtues of Manhattan. In her opinion, Owen doesn't ask the right questions and ignores some inconvenient facts.

October 19 - AlterNet

LEED for Neighborhood Design (LEED-ND) is approved to become a permanent certification program.

October 18 - New Urban News

This piece from <em>Urban Omnibus</em> looks at a collaborative effort in New York City to get immigrant populations better engaged in the city's public parks.

October 18 - Urban Omnibus

The city of Toronto is rolling out a new street furniture program. Lisa Rochon calls the new additions to the city's sidewalks an "assault on civic life".

October 18 - The Globe and Mail

The city of St. Louis has been testing out a new sustainable streetscape design that calms traffic and helps absorb stormwater. The test run has been so well-received, the city is thinking about rolling out the design permanently.

October 18 - The Architect's Newspaper

Maine mill town asks citizens to record their memories at downtown "Heart Spots" as part of the master planning process.

October 18 - The Journal Tribune

Not having babies is, arguably, the most effective way of limiting one's carbon footprint. Experts discuss ways to approach this touchy subject.

October 17 - Miller-McCune

Michigan's one-year experiment in giving local mayors and township supervisors the option to appoint someone less than 18 years-of-age to a planning commission appears to be coming to an abrupt end.

October 17 - Building Place Notebook

Foreclosed homes in Phoenix are a new goldmine for one developer, who is buying up land near the city's mass transit lines and marketing properties as transit oriented development.

October 17 - NPR

When it hosts the 2010 Winter Olympics next year, Vancouver will need to clear more than 30,000 vehicles off its roads everyday to avoid total gridlock. Doing so will require much cooperation from locals.

October 17 - The Globe and Mail

Vision 42 has proposed closing NYC's 42nd Street to car traffic and adding light rail along its length. The Mayor isn't interested, but lots of others are.

October 17 - The New York Times

The Wheelchair Foundation has some work to do to become ADA-compliant.

October 16 - FAILblog

Santa Monica, CA is making the move to market-based parking in order to reduce congestion, reduce pollution, and make alternatives more appealing.

October 16 - Los Angeles Times

A group of 200 volunteers with GPS devices will walk the streets of Atlanta this weekend to create a community-owned map of the city and its intricate details.

October 16 - BBC

This article reviews the lengths Rio and Chicago went to show the Olympic Committee their green ambitions. Hint: both planted trees.

October 16 - Fast Company

A proposal to create a new outdoor advertising district in San Francisco has some locals anticipating a retail revival, while others dread the possible billboard blight.

October 16 - San Francisco Chronicle

MillionTreesNYC says they're on track to reach their goal by 2017. Trees provide shade and allay problems of air pollution. They've planted hundreds of thousands of trees already... and received some complaints.

October 16 - Los Angeles Times

Speaking to the Detroit Economic Club recently, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood addressed high-speed rail, Detroit's bus crisis, and the economic future of the area.

October 16 - Crain's Detroit Business

Following the success of programs in L.A. and San Francisco, more cities in California are making the switch to LED lights to save on energy costs and provide more sustainable street lighting.

October 16 - SF Streetsblog