The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

In Salemi, Italy, 3000 villas ravaged in a 1968 earthquake are now on the market for about U.S.$1.41. However, interested buyers must adhere to a number of stipulations, including a two-year deadline for development.

September 18 - Newsweek

The Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative (FFFI) has provided $42 million in grants and loans to finance 58 locally-owned grocery stores, combating fresh grocery shortages in areas of rural and urban Pennsylvania.

September 18 - Hometown Advantage

GM will soon unveil its SUV of the future – the 'plug-in' hybrid known as the Volt. Mitsubishi's new mini, all-electric car will soon go to market in Japan. The days of the gas-powered car are numbered- or are they?

September 18 - The Wall Street Journal

Property values are up in Iraq's capital, but realtors there point out that sectarian divisions are the main reason why certain areas have become desirable.

September 18 - Globe and Mail

Arts and Culture editor Rebecca Mazzei looks at public art - both official and unofficial - across the landscape of Detroit, and advocates for a bold new public art fund for the city.

September 18 - Detroit Metro Times

In parts of Texas, state officials and local communities are in a tug-of-war over post-Ike coastline rebuilding efforts.

September 18 - The Houston Chronicle

Berkeley, CA has just launched a loan program for property owners who wish to install solar panels on their roofs. Despite a frail economy, the city council is optimistic about the program's success.

September 18 - The New York Times

Convenience stores in lower income neighborhoods are notorious for their unsightliness and for carrying unhealthful foods. This article highlights one project that aims to help the corner store evolve into a healthy, community-oriented place.

September 17 - Next American City

A new report looks at what cities and automobile manufacturers can do to help keep the growing population of older drivers behind the wheel.

September 17 - Globe and Mail

In order to get more retailers to set up shop in one San Francisco neighborhood, the definition of "meal" must be established to keep out new places that can't serve one.

September 17 - The San Francisco Chronicle

About 500 disabled Americans have erected a tent city just outside of HUD's Washington, DC office. The group has staged the sit-in to protest housing costs that cannot be met with the incomes of many disabled citizens.

September 17 - Desert News

With growth controls making suburban properties less attractive and wealth becoming concentrated in older centres, Canada's big box retailers are looking downtown for new locations.

September 17 - Globe and Mail

On this episode of <em>Smart City</em>, Scott Bernstein of the Center for Neighborhood Technology discusses the Housing and Transportation Affordability Index.

September 17 - Smart City

Using Milan as a model, Inverness, Scotland has lofty plans for its Old Town. To achieve them, asserts one local historian, the city must get creative--and more optimistic--in meetings its challenges.

September 17 - The Inverness Courier

Congress is in the midst of discussing whether or not more people ought to be eligible for homeless services. But without any additional funding to go with it, some argue that a broadened definition of homelessness may be unrealistic.

September 17 - The New York Times

Civic leaders in Indianapolis are considering closing Monument Circle to traffic. Says one, "From a European perspective, this could be one of the great public spaces in America."

September 17 - Indianapolis Business Journal

Three teams of landscape architects were given 24 hrs. to develop a master plan for the growing Michigan town of New Buffalo.

September 17 - Metropolis Magazine

BLOG POST

<p> More than anything, I remember laughing at them. While I, as a bright-eyed undergrad, woke up at 11 to enjoy my very liberal arts classes in everything from gerontology to the physics of music, the business students would trudge out the door in suits and ties. For class. In late-summer Philly humidity. Eighteen years old and already soulless pre-professional slaves. </p> <p> Poor bastards, I thought. </p> <p> Now that I’m in graduate school, two things keep the schadenfreude at bay as Wall Street drowns in its own excesses. One, karma’s a bitch. And two, as a soon-to-be planner, I’m quickly realizing I’ve become one of them. </p>

September 17 - Jeffrey Barg

Although it is a public transit success, Metrolink was cobbled together with old freight rail lines. It was a relatively cheap and quick way of providing rail service, but its drawbacks have become obvious.

September 16 - California Planning and Development Report

By charging more to ride at peak commuting hours, BART hopes to spread the use of the system more evenly throughout the day.

September 16 - SF Gate