The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Urban Villages Struggling To Attract Jobs
<p>Three mixed-use, walkable urban villages near Seattle have become very popular with residents since their creation in the '80s and '90s. But while small businesses prosper and home vacancies remain low, few jobs are available.</p>
Budget Woes Cut Quality of Life In Toronto
<p>More than $83 million will be slashed from Toronto's annual budget, and many, including the mayor, predict a sharp cut to services and the city's general quality of life.</p>
Hope for Informal Settlements
<p>Collective action and micro financing are two promising models for improving the livability of informal settlements, writes Neal Peirce.</p>
Transit Project Could Remake The Image Of San Francisco
<p>The design competition for San Francisco's Transbay Terminal has the potential to redefine the city, writes John King.</p>
BLOG POST
Should Hong Kong and Shenzhen Merge? Tectonic Movements Towards a Regional Approach in the Pearl River Delta
<p> The <a href="http://www.bauhinia.org">Bauhinia Foundation Research Centre</a>, a think tank close to Hong Kong governor Donald Tsang, has just released a <a href="http://www.bauhinia.org/publications/BFRC-HKSZ-ES-ENG.pdf">report</a> arguing that it might make sense for Hong Kong and Shenzhen to merge into a single metropolitan entity. According to <em>The Economist</em> Cities Guide email update (one of the magazine's best services for subscribers and a most for global urban trendwatches): </p>
How Tucson Can Learn From Portland
<p>Civic leaders and city officials in Tucson recently traveled to Portland to get advice about how to improve their city while dealing with an expected population boom. The trip highlighted the big differences between the two cities.</p>
From Flea Market To TOD
<p>A flea market space located adjacent to a planned expansion of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system in San Jose, California, may be replaced with a mixed use transit village.</p>
Longer Lives Of Big Infrastructure
<p>The country is stocked with antiquated infrastructure, but this piece from <em>The New York Times</em> says that some of it is only old because it was built to last.</p>
Street Vendors Face Ousting In Mexico City
<p>Half a million street vendors fill the squares of Mexico City to make their living. The mayor wants to wipe out the vendors, whose businesses contribute no taxes to the city. But the vendors have their own organization that opposes the city's plans.</p>
Milwaukee Officials Carefully Proceed With Regional Transit Plans
<p>City and county officials in Milwaukee are reviving efforts to create a regional transportation system. But officials are moving ahead cautiously to avoid the mistakes that halted similar plans in the past.</p>
New Bridge In Venice Greeted With Criticism
<p>A new pedestrian bridge has been added over the Grand Canal in Venice, despite objections from locals that the new modern-designed bridge is out of place.</p>
Updates Underway On Memphis Transportation Plan
<p>Transportation plans in Memphis are undergoing a major facelift this summer, and the city's metropolitan planning organization is calling on residents to get involved in the process and the future of their city.</p>
Building Restrictions Pit Builders Against City
<p>City officials in a Boston suburb are once again trying to approve building restrictions that would cut down the size of new houses in the city. Builders' groups are lobbying the city to find a compromise.</p>
Drivers Sidelined By Critical Mass Riders
<p>San Francisco's Critical Mass bike ride has become an institution in the city, giving cyclists a monthly chance to physically advocate bike awareness.</p>
Homeless Turn To Public Libraries
<p>A lack of attention to the problem of homelessness is turning our public libraries into homeless shelters.</p>
FEATURE
Beyond Moses and Jacobs
Neither the block-level gentrification inspired by the patron saint of city planning nor the wide-scale mega-project redevelopment advocated by New York City's infamous planning czar are useful models for the realities of 21st century cities.
Downtown Mixed-Use Village Envisioned As City's New Centerpiece
<p>A mixed-use village on a prime parcel of land in downtown Spartanburg, South Carolina, known as Renaissance Park may be the first major project to result from the city's recently adopted master plan.</p>
Prosperous Pockets Peak Out Of Slow Housing Market
<p>The real estate market is reportedly down in many major metropolitan areas, but within them pockets of high-value properties are flourishing.</p>
The Positive Effects Of Block Parties
<p>Getting neighbors together for community events does more than prevent crime, according to the Project for Public Spaces.</p>
Coastal Erosion Threatens U.S. Energy Supply
<p>Louisiana's eroding and sinking coastline also happens to be the site of a major proportion of America's oil infrastructure.</p>
Municipality of Princeton
Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission
City of Mt Shasta
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
US High Speed Rail Association
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)
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