The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Museum Turns City Around

<p>Bilbao, Spain, has undergone a noticeable rejuvenation in the 10 years since Frank Gehry's iconic Guggenheim Museum opened its doors.</p>

September 25 - The New York Times

Cheaper To House The Homeless In B.C.

<p>Government research form British Columbia has shown that it costs cities more than $12,000 per homeless person per year. Some are saying it would be cheaper for the city to give them housing than to keep them on the streets.</p>

September 25 - Times Colonist

Maryland's Rent-Free Historic Homes

<p>This report from <em>National Public Radio</em> looks at Maryland's Resident Curatorship program -- a method of historic preservation that allows people to live rent-free in historic homes in exchange for performing preservation work.</p>

September 25 - NPR

Abandoned Luxury Condos Morph Into Affordable Housing

<p>With the downturn in the housing market, a planned luxury condo tower in Downtown San Diego has been reworked into an affordable housing development.</p>

September 24 - The San Diego Union-Tribune

Immigration, Gender, and the American Dream

<p>Over the last two decades, immigration has "feminized" -- there are now more female immigrants than male immigrants. This change should impact housing and educational policies for immigrants, writes professor Ali Modarres in an academic paper.</p>

September 24 - Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Institute of Public Affairs


BLOG POST

So You Want to Change the World, Part 2: Finding the Right Planning Program

<p class="MsoNormal"> Many students choose planning over business school because they want to serve the public and change the world. However, saving the world is a complicated task. What kind of school will prepare you? As in many parts of life there isn’t a simple answer but a few key points can help frame your search. And remember, you don’t need to answer all these questions before you apply—get a good enough list and then investigate them some more once you have real offers. </p>

September 24 - Ann Forsyth

Traffic Costs Nairobi $746,000 Per Day

<p>The Kenyan capital of Nairobi is struggling with crippling car congestion -- a problems some say is so bad the country should consider transferring its capital to another city.</p>

September 24 - Mail & Guardian


Questions Surround L.A.'s Tree-Planting Plan

<p>The city of Los Angeles has announced a plan to plant 1 million trees in the next few years, and though the city has been successful in giving many trees away to people with the intention of planting them, no one is sure how many of them are planted.</p>

September 24 - The Los Angeles Times

Affordable Housing Bill Gathers Momentum

A bill originally introduced in 1987 that would create a trust fund to support the creation of affordable housing may be on its way to congressional approval this fall.

September 24 - U.S. News And World Report

FEATURE

Modernism In Fragments

Nathan Glazer's <em>From a Cause to a Style: Modernist Architecture's Encounter with the American City</em> reveals how this influential social movement's good intentions shaped the look of the 20th century.

September 24 - Josh Stephens

Mexico City Skyscraper Plans Fuel Debate

<p>In Mexico City, controversial plans to develop what would be the tallest skyscraper in Latin America have opponents calling the project illegal. But the developers have a big-name architect and high-powered politicians behind them.</p>

September 24 - The New York Times

The Year-Long Deliberation Over Rezoning

<p>County officials in Georgia have once again extended their moratorium on residential rezonings as they weigh whether changes will encourage sprawl. The latest extension will stretch the original 90-day moratorium to nearly a year.</p>

September 24 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A 'Bridge To Nowhere' No More

<p>Widely-criticized plans to build a $398 million bridge between a remote Alaskan airport and a neighboring island have been formally dropped by the state.</p>

September 24 - The Houston Chronicle

Beijing's Bicycle Rental System Has Long Way To Go

<p>In one of the most congested cities in the world, one entrepreneur is hoping to etch away at the problem with his fledgling bicycle rental business. Currently there are 500 bikes in the system, but the owner has plans for more than 50,000 by 2009.</p>

September 24 - The Christian Science Monitor

More Blacks Left New Orleans After Katrina

<p>An analysis of census data has shown that the shape of the mass migration from New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina was largely determined by race.</p>

September 24 - The Indianapolis Star

BLOG POST

Too bountiful a crop of farmers' markets?

<p> The number of farmers’ markets has grown dramatically in the US over the past few years. The number increased by seven percent from 2005-2006 on top of the incredible 79 percent increase from 1994 to 2002. People love the festive atmosphere, the ability to meet the people who grow their food and the connection to the earth this experience provides, and the quality and freshness of the produce. Many patrons value local farmers’ markets as a means of lessening their impact on the earth by allowing them to eat more locally.</p><p> Yet in some places, farmers are abandoning the markets. They cite a number of reasons, including:</p>

September 23 - Lisa Feldstein

Building Green -- Retroactively

<p>Across the country, an emerging trend is seeing existing and older buildings being retrocommissioned as environmentally-friendly structures. Nearly 500 are awaiting LEED certification.</p>

September 23 - Greener Buildings

Downtown St. Louis City to Get New Corporate Tower

<p>Centene Corporation will build its new corporate headquarters at mixed-use Ballpark Village development in Downtown St. Louis City instead of Downtown Clayton, a suburb and the region's 'second downtown'</p>

September 23 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Historic Hotels May Fall To Create Surface Parking

<p>Citing a need for downtown parking, a public official in Stockton, California, has proposed demolishing eight historic hotel buildings to build parking lots.</p>

September 23 - The Record

Pay As You Drive (PAYD) System Test Gets Go Ahead

<p>In six states, test runs will assess public attitudes and acceptance of road taxation systems that ditch gas taxes and charge drivers based on how many miles they drive.</p>

September 23 - USA Today

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