The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>A proposal to make Eugene, Oregon's bus system fare-free has been voted down by the regional transit district.</p>

February 28 - The Register-Guard

BLOG POST

<p> Every city has blight – the unsightly, derelict, abandoned, disheveled, and under-utilized spaces of our urban areas. It drains the life out of neighborhoods, drives down the values of surrounding properties, and just looks really bad. So what do cities do about it? Some seize it through eminent domain for redevelopment and others offer incentives to developers to replace it with something better. Many of them, though, don’t do anything at all. But removing blight from a city is not impossible, and it doesn’t have to be an elaborate multi-party scheme or a drawn-out political process. It can be as simple as a coat of paint.<br />

February 27 - Nate Berg

<p>The city of San Francisco is considering a proposal to require most new commercial and residential buildings to comply with the green building standard LEED.</p>

February 27 - The Christian Science Monitor

<p>What may be the oldest urban site in the world has been unearthed in Peru.</p>

February 27 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>Hospitals are being built and renovated all across the country -- a trend responding to the aging baby boomer population.</p>

February 27 - Planning Commissioners Journal

<p>To ward off crop extinctions in the event of some future catastrophe, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault opens today to receive thousands of seed samples from around the world.</p>

February 27 - The Globe and Mail

<p>The pleas of governors from across the country for more infrastructure funding have been shot down by President George W. Bush.</p>

February 27 - The New York Times

<p>This episode of <em>Smart City</em> looks at riverfront redevelopment as a tool for recreating cities.</p>

February 27 - Smart City

<p>Despite objections from city staff, a former Denny's restaurant in Washington has been declared a historic landmark. Many residents are backing the designation.</p>

February 27 - The Seattle Times

<p>Plans are being floated to create better downtown linkage between three of L.A.'s rail lines -- an idea that some downtown residents are wary of.</p>

February 27 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>New York City is considering a plan to create beds of oysters in one of the city's waterways to help filter water.</p>

February 27 - The New York Times

<p>Bars in Minneapolis have found a workaround to evade the state's ban on smoking in bars: stage "theater nights" and let all patrons be "actors" in a show that allows smoking.</p>

February 27 - Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune

<p>This post from <em>The Mish Mash</em> shows pictures of some of the worst neighbors to have.</p>

February 26 - The Mish Mash

<p>Sewage routinely spills into the San Francisco Bay, mainly due to aging and crumbling infrastructure. This report looks at the issue.</p>

February 26 - QUEST

<p>The cities of Vallejo, California, and McCall, Idaho, are considering filing for bankruptcy.</p>

February 26 - Governing

<p>The latest figures from Statistics Canada on household spending show that Canadians are spending more for basics, including shelter and public transportation.</p>

February 26 - Report on Business

<p>The Bay Area's $158 million Urban Partnership Grant is in trouble. It appears politically unlikely that a roadway toll will pass the legislature, so officials hope to change the flat Golden Gate Bridge toll to a variable toll to receive the grant.</p>

February 26 - The San Francisco Chronicle

<p>Small grocers and deli owners in New York are up in arms over a city proposal to license a fleet of 1,000 street cart vendors.</p>

February 26 - The New York Times

<p>In an effort to bridge the gap between the ideologies of developers and architects, a "speed-dating" session was set up to get the practitioners of these two fields to interact.</p>

February 26 - The Times

<p>Creating beautiful public spaces is crucial to improving sense of community, according to urban designers looking to revitalize the Mississippi town of Tupelo.</p>

February 26 - Daily Journal (Northeast Mississippi)