The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
The Rebirth of the Electric Car
<p>In a bold move likened in this article to the Apollo program, General Motors is throwing everything it has into the development of the Volt, a revolutionary plug-in electric hybrid.</p>
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Why Transit is an 'Inferior Good'
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman">In my last post, I suggested that transit’s “resurgence” is, ultimately, much ado about nothing. Transit’s increased ridership, while important for transit managers, will do little to change fundamental travel patterns of US urban areas. </span> </p>
Evicted Residents Want Their History Portrayed Accurately
<p>Kentucky and Tennessee residents who were evicted in the 1960s to make way for a nature preserve are fighting to make sure their history is accurately represented in historical markers and visitor centers at the site.</p>
Foreclose This!
<p>A homeowner on the verge of foreclosure in Las Vegas is not going down without a fight. He is literally destroying his home from the inside out.</p>
Skirting Process, Bremerton Makes Beautiful Public Spaces
<p>Landscape architect Gary Sexton worked on a tight budget and dodged commissions and regulations to create a beautiful vision for downtown Bremerton (near Seattle).</p>
Gas Pipelines Through Neighborhoods Are A Difficult Proposition
<p>Fort Worth, Texas officials try to tackle the thorny issue of gas pipelines snaking through residential neighborhoods.</p>
Would Starbucks and Designer Interiors Get You to Ride Transit?
<p>Toronto's Metrolink brings together city and transportation planners to brainstorm the transit of the future.</p>
New San Francisco Parks Key to Neighborhood Vibrancy
<p>Two new parks in San Francisco show how great neighborhoods are defined by their public spaces, according to this article from the <em>San Francisco Chronicle</em>.</p>
Paris Plans Green Car Sharing System
<p>Following on the success of its bike-sharing system, Paris is planning to unveil a citywide green car-sharing system.</p>
The Transformation of a Neighborhood
<p>Steven Malanga writes about the resurrection of Bushwick, a Brooklyn neighborhood, from its decrepit past.</p>
Vancouverism on Exhibition
<p>An unusual art installation in Trafalgar Square draws attention to Vancouverism: Westcoast Architecture and City Building, an exhibition about the city's achievements in urban development, engineering and architecture.</p>
Boston Artist District Battles Gentrification
<p>Boston's Fort Point Channel neighborhood, New England's largest artist community, is struggling to retain its identity as developers continue to transform studio space into condominiums.</p>
Freeway Expansion Leads to Increased Traffic
<p>A year after a new freeway was completed in Southern California, traffic data shows increased use. Officials plan to widen the freeway to handle the increased load.</p>
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The Quest for Energy: The Input/Output Problem
<p> In August of 2006, an unknown Irish company called Steorn took out a full-page ad in The Economist to announce that they had created a magnetic technology that produced more energy than it used- essentially, a perpetual motion machine, the Holy Grail of energy. </p>
Lego Living: Shipping Containers Become Affordable Housing
<p>A developer in New Jersey is looking to shipping containers as building blocks for affordable housing.</p>
The Housing Bubble as a Social Phenomenon
<p>In this excerpt from his forthcoming book, Subprime Solution, economist Robert J. Shiller writes of our tendency to succumb to "bubble thinking," and the role this has played in the current mortgage crisis.</p>
BLOG POST
Learning from exam schools
<p> Yesterday’s Washington Post contained <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/23/AR2008062300297.html?hpid=news-col-blog">a list of elite public schools</a>- schools where the average student SAT is over 1300. Since suburban schools generally have better reputations than urban schools, one might expect that all the schools on the list would be in prestigious suburban school districts. But in fact, this is not the case. Three New York City schools (Stuyvestant, Hunter College, Bronx High) and one school near downtown Richmond (Maggie Walker) are on the high-SAT list- despite the fact that the New York City and Richmond school districts, like nearly all urban school districts, have mediocre reputations. </p>
Despite Streetcar Skeleton, Chicago Leans Towards BRT
<p>Transit officials in Chicago are calling on the city to rebuild its historic streetcar system. Rails still exist on many streets, but city officials are leaning away from streetcars and towards bus rapid transit.</p>
One Blight Down, One To Go
<p>In this op-ed piece, Kevin C. Phelan and Yanni Tsipis argue that Boston's 'Big Dig' has only fought half the battle, calling for a more proactive approach to building over the city's other auto sewer, the Massachusetts Turnpike.</p>
St. Louis Comes Back
<p>Despite predictions that the city was dying, St. Louis has just won an "All-America City" award. Neal Peirce looks at how the city turned itself around.</p>
City of Moorpark
City of Tustin
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
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