The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

BLOG POST

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Technology creates new challenges and opportunities, and this came home to me a couple of weeks ago when I was previewing a rough cut of </font><a href="http://www.reason.tv/video/show/6.html"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3" color="#800080">Gridlock: Hell on Wheels</font></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">, a video on traffic congestion released by </font><a href="http://www.reason.org/"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3" color="#800080">Reason Foundation</font></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> today. In the video, Comedian Drew Carey makes the following off-the-cuff comment on a morning drive-time radio show: “I would love to own a freeway in LA.” </font></p>

October 16 - Samuel Staley

<p>Moving from New York City to rural Westchester County, a writer meets an unfamiliar culture of xenophobia. Soon she finds herself increasingly suspicious of strangers, too.</p>

October 16 - The New York Times

<p>Developers have announced plans for a 75-kilometer canal to run through Dubai, with waterfront cities and developments all along its banks.</p>

October 15 - Gulf News

<p>Hurricane threats are causing insurers to retreat from coastal areas in Massachusetts and around New England, leaving many looking for alternative protection.</p>

October 15 - The Boston Globe

<p>What could have been an economic development homerun for Miami's Wynwood neighborhood has turned out to be a miserable failure. Nonetheless, hope remains that new ownership can restore the site's promising potential.</p>

October 15 - The Miami Herald

<p>Bold plans are taking shape as construction begins on an 8-mile bike and pedestrian path in Indianapolis -- a project intended to encourage not just walking and biking, but also economic development.</p>

October 15 - Streetsblog

<p>Officials in New Orleans have released a scaled-back version of the recovery plan the city council approved earlier this spring. This lighter version of the plan focuses on removing blight, and building affordable apartments.</p>

October 15 - Associated Press via Time

<p>A strike in the city of Vancouver that has left residents without garbage collection for nearly three months has caused people to get creative -- and a little sneaky -- in how they get rid of their trash.</p>

October 15 - The Vancouver Sun

<p>Portland, Oregon, looks to follow the lead of Paris in instituting a bike rental system throughout the city. Bids are requested for a pilot fleet of 500 bikes.</p>

October 15 - The Portland Tribune

<p>Israel is planning to construct a so-called "Palestinian Highway", which critics believe will be used to fragment Palestinian territory.</p>

October 15 - The Globe & Mail

<p>The mortgage crisis is contributing to a dramatic increase in homeless families.</p>

October 15 - Common Dreams

<p>A planned 19-story residential building on Manhattan's west side features New York City's first personal "sky garages." A video animation shows how they work.</p>

October 15 - Streetsblog

<p>With the housing market faltering, developers are eyeing an emerging and lucrative market: luxurious garages for expensive cars.</p>

October 14 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>A San Francisco lawyer and housing activist questions the paper's focus on problematic street behavior and on law enforcement as the only way to deal with the city's homeless population.</p>

October 14 - BeyondChron

<p>The controversial Three Gorges Dam project has displaced millions of people, and is about to displace millions more; but some wonder if official explanations about protecting sensitive areas and accelerating urbanization are accurate.</p>

October 14 - InterPress Service

<p>A Los Angeles artist has recently completed a project documenting each of the city's street named after saints, and has crafted murals of each one to show how the life of the randomly-named streets mirrors the lives and work of their namesakes.</p>

October 14 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>This report from <em>NPR</em> looks at the results of a report on the commuting habits and trends of American drivers.</p>

October 14 - NPR

BLOG POST

<p> There are lots of Wi-Fi buses popping up in Northern California. The <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/10/technology/10google.html">Google shuttle</a> from San Francisco to the Valley has been running for a while and I think Yahoo! has a similar service, but I saw this <a href="http://www.actransit.org/news/articledetail.wu?articleid=ae8a49cd">Wi-Fi enabled AC Transit bus</a> (that's Alameda County folks) crossing the Dumbarton Bridge last week. Apparently, the service is being subsidized by a grant from the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency. </p>

October 13 - Anthony Townsend

<p>This graph from <em>Good</em> shows the acreage of some of the world's biggest retailers, including McDonald's, 7-11, and Wal-Mart.</p>

October 13 - Good

<p>A group opposed to plans to create a congestion pricing system in New York have released a report outlining measures that could be taken to achieve the same level of traffic reduction without a congestion charge.</p>

October 13 - The New York Times