The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Many residents can still recount when their neighborhoods were far less ethnically diverse than their are now, which is backed by new census data showing that in most cities, the white population is down.

December 10 - Los Angeles Times

In this Mercury News Op-Ed, San Jose State University Professor Larry Gerston proposes this bold tax for mass transit and alternative energy programs. It yields $175 billion annually and creates green jobs, enabling us to determine our destiny.

December 10 - Mercury News

The Dallas City Council ponders a form-based code, designed to encourage neighborhoods where driving isn't required to get around.

December 10 - Dallas Morning News

The Chicago Transit Authority is cracking down on 'continuous riders', people who sleep or hang out in the subway through the winter nights to keep warm. Advocates worry the crackdown will hurt the homeless.

December 10 - Chicago Sun-Times

Columnist David Brooks warns that the Obama stimulus package fails to build on the current social movement to enliven existing suburbs and instead appears to follow a traditional roads, bridges, and refurbishing existing infrastructure approach.

December 10 - The New York Times

Bricks have been a building staple for a long time, but the sky's the limit for their aesthetic uses.

December 10 - GOOD Magazine

Housing starts in Canada are down dramatically, but no more so than in the condo market, which accounts for half or more of the housing construction in such cities as Vancouver and Toronto.

December 10 - The Globe and Mail

According to Kirk Rogers, European suburbs are not all that different from American ones--they indulge the need for space, good schools, and cars-- and they're there to stay.

December 10 - New Geography

New census data has given some insight on how New York City has been changing in the past eight years or so. Diversity is on the rise, as is the number of children being raised in Manhattan.

December 10 - The New York Times

The plan: 200 luxury homes on Molokai's waterfront, in exchange for jobs and preserving thousands of acres of land. Locals fought the compromise, and the economic shift brought an abrupt halt to the project- dragging other businesses down with it.

December 9 - The New York Times

Methane gas hydrates are flammable ice crystals packed with hydrocarbons. Until recently, it was too expensive to recover the fuel trapped in the ice, but new technology and demand are opening up possibilities.

December 9 - The Christian Science Monitor

BLOG POST

<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1107304683 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> <p class="MsoNormal"> I had the pleasure of attending two studio final presentations at the Georgia Tech planning program this month: the Lindbergh/Lavista Community studio and the Friendship Village studio.  I&#39;m hardly a neutral observer: I chair the program; but I&#39;m new here and really didn&#39;t know what to expect.  I came away refreshed at the insights of the students and enthused at way the university partners with communities to advance good planning. 

December 9 - Bruce Stiftel

Foreclosures are spreading across the country like a plague, and there's almost no place worse hit than Las Vegas.

December 9 - NPR

For decades, development in Maine sprawled away from cities and across the landscape. The flailing economy may be the only thing that can change the pattern.

December 9 - Maine Sunday Telegram

Around Puget Sound, the spreading suburban fringe is changing the types of birds that live in those areas, pushing some out and attracting others. 'It's a change in who's top,' says a local biologist.

December 9 - The Seattle Times

The MTA rescue plan, with its new East & Harlem River bridge tolls and first-ever, 12-county transit payroll tax cleared a major political hurdle by winning the crucial support of NY Gov' Paterson. Winning support from mayor, outer boroughs remains.

December 9 - The New York Times

President-elect Barack Obama has announced a promise to institute a broad-ranging package of building programs, from infrastructure to schools -- the nation's largest public works program since the post-war era.

December 9 - The New York Times

How should cities incentivize developers in a down market? And should they? William Fulton reflects on the price cities will pay to get new buildings, and if it is worth it.

December 9 - Governing Magazine

Despite falling gas prices, transit ridership is still up. The amount of Vehicle Miles Traveled is also down for the 11th month in a row.

December 9 - The Washington Post

Lego released a number of new sets in 2008 that look surprisingly New Urbanist in design, including the 'Green Grocer' set, which is mixed-use with a grocery store on the ground floor and detailed streetscaping.

December 9 - Brick Journal