The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>Seattle has approved a new 10-year bicycle master plan that advocates hope will encourage more biking in the city. Seattle's plan stands out from other cities' bicycle plans, as much of its necessary funding has already been approved.</p>

November 11 - The Seattle Times

<p>Toll booths should be eliminated from the country's toll roads, according to Robert Poole.</p>

November 10 - The Wall Street Journal

BLOG POST

<p>Yes, yes. We all want to save the children. They are our most precious resource and hold the key to our future. Let them lead the way, and please, lord, don&#39;t let them get run over by a train. </p><p>Fortunately, most American kids face no such danger because they are held safe in far-flung suburbs where conformity and the cocoon of the strip mall tend to their well-being. They are growing up strong and worldly behind gates and in perfect communities far from the strife of the city, where art, culture, diversity, adventure, and freedom might stimulate them just a little too much. </p>

November 10 - Josh Stephens

<p>This list from <em>Virgin Vacations</em> names the world's 11 most bike-friendly cities, and offers details on the five rating categories that make for a bike-friendly city.</p>

November 10 - Virgin Vacations

<p>A broad bus rapid transit system in the works in Johannesburg, South Africa, is sparking a wildfire of dense, mixed use development plans for the city.</p>

November 10 - Financial Mail

<p>New Urban and transit oriented developments are showing better financial health compared to other types of development as the housing market declines nationwide.</p>

November 10 - New Urban News

<p>This piece from <em>Smart Growth Online</em> looks at transit oriented development near transit and freight facilities -- dubbed "cargo oriented development" -- as discusses how it can create value in neglected industrial areas.</p>

November 10 - Smart Growth Online

<p>As the Disney Corporation and the city of Anaheim, California, squabble over a proposal to build affordable housing near the Happiest Place on Earth, Morris Newman suggests turning the affordable housing project into an "urban theme park".</p>

November 9 - California Planning & Development Report

Some urban planning projects are so frustratingly bad you just have to sing about them ... or at least find some songs to help vent that frustration. This blog post from Stuck Between Stations finds those songs.

November 9 - Stuck Between Stations

<p>Plans call to remap Coney Island's amusement district as parkland, allowing further amusement and recreational development, but blocking proposed high-rise condo towers.</p>

November 9 - The Village Voice

<p>Cars and scooters rules the roads -- and often the sidewalks -- in Greece, making things difficult for the country's pedestrians. A new activist movement is looking to bring illegal parking and pedestrian-right-of-way violations to light.</p>

November 9 - International Herald Tribune

<p>This slideshow from <em>Polar Inertia</em> looks at the Toy District of Los Angeles -- an area that is not nearly as fun as its name would suggest.</p>

November 9 - Polar Inertia

<p>The mayors of more than 700 American cities have signed a pledge to reduce the carbon emissions of their cities. Following up on that pledge is turning out to be a bit difficult.</p>

November 9 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>Plans for "EcoDensity" in Vancouver are at odd with the city's willingness to allow big box development, according to this article.</p>

November 9 - The Tyee

<p>Beavers that have moved into and made a home of part of a creek in the Bay Area city of Martinez will be allowed to stay, despite the flood threat their dam poses to the city's downtown. Many are calling the beavers the city's new tourist attraction.</p>

November 9 - The Contra Costa Times

<p>A rash of building demolitions has erased more than 700 units of affordable housing in the Washington D.C. area, but replacement buildings have not been constructed.</p>

November 9 - The Washington Post

<p>Voters in Seattle recently voted down a proposition to significantly fund roads and transit in the region. Advocates are pushing forward with efforts to keep the transportation funding issues alive and attain the money needed.</p>

November 9 - The Seattle Times

<p>More and more universities and colleges are working on greening their operations. Here's the top 10.</p>

November 8 - AlterNet

<p>A surprising poll shows that Bay Area residents -- who already pay the nation's highest gas prices -- would agree to a 25-cent gas tax if revenue were applied to reduce global warming. Efforts are underway to put that support to a vote.</p>

November 8 - San Francisco Examiner

<p>Internationally regarded as one of the most bike-friendly cities, Portland, Oregon, has also become friendly to bike-related industries and small businesses.</p>

November 8 - The New York Times