The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>Plans by the developers of Vermillion, a 400 acre New Urbanist community outside Charlotte, call for the addition of hundreds of 4,000 square foot homes to the original neighborhood of townhomes and small lot houses.</p>

February 28 - The Charlotte Observer

<p>New York Times writer Chistopher Gray chronicles the history and recent renovation of New York City's 'brownstone Grand Canyon' on East 93rd street.</p>

February 28 - The New York Times

<p>Crediting the city's 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness, officials in Portland, Oregon, have announced that the number of people sleeping on the street has declined 39 percent in the last two years.</p>

February 28 - The Portland Tribune

<p>One of Los Angeles' transportation commissioners advocates eliminating bus and train fares to help the urban poor and encourage ridership.</p>

February 28 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>As middle and upper class black families increasingly move to the suburbs of Phoenix, they must cope with the loss of cultural connections that existed in historically black neighborhoods.</p>

February 28 - Tucson Citizen

<p>Some suburban school districts are dividing new high schools into smaller wings to create a tighter sense of community.</p>

February 28 - Minneapolis Star Tribune

<p>Designed by architect William McDonough, a pair of towers recently approved for downtown Chapel Hill will be the first mixed-use development to meet LEED Gold standards in North Carolina.</p>

February 28 - The News & Observer

<p>One county in China has been exempt from the country's controversial one-child policy for two decades. Additional rules about when parents may marry and have children have kept the county's birthrate lower than the national average.</p>

February 28 - The Christian Science Monitor

BLOG POST

<p>At Project for Public Spaces, Inc. we think successful public spaces are the key to the future of cities. By “successful spaces” we mean spaces that are used, but what we find more often than not, in the centers of cities, are some very bad spaces – meaning that they are pretty much devoid of opportunities to do anything – even though they look good. We have also found that the least successful spaces and buildings are often the newest ones.</p>

February 27 - Anonymous

<p>More common sense is needed in creating and managing the litany of federal, state and local policies intended to create more affordable housing.</p>

February 27 - Florida Trend

<p>Can Oregon, Metro and Portland learn from the rest of the nation in their new planning efforts: Regulation and policy, alone, do not produce development.</p>

February 27 - The Oregonian

BLOG POST

<p>New Orleans is experiencing a crime wave. High murder rates in the first two months of 2007 have made national attention. Anderson Cooper of CNN has been following this story. So far this year he has devoted two hour-long shows to this topic. I live in central New Orleans and my biggest complaint about the city is the high crime rate. I don’t think our city will recover if we fail to address this most serious issue. Crime makes you ask yourself – should I move to the suburbs where it’s safer and commute? But being a transportation planner, I can’t help but follow-up that question with – If I spend a lot more time driving will my exposure to dieing in a car accident increase? So which is worse - murder or traffic fatalities?</p>

February 27 - John Renne

<p>Unpaid riders and broken fares boxes are causing budget woes for San Francisco's bus and rail system, Muni, according to the system's administrators. The agency estimates losses in the tens of millions of dollars.</p>

February 27 - The San Francisco Chronicle

<p>An architect sculpts ever-changing atmospheres with light and recorded sound. Everything from jungle birds to ocean breezes to wind chimes enhance the experience of the built environment.</p>

February 27 - NPR Weekend Edition

<p>This article from the <em>Houston Press</em> looks at the issue of homelessness in nearby suburban Fort Bend County, a problem many public officials deny.</p>

February 27 - Houston Press

<p>A new report highlights the struggles of historic mill cities in Massachusetts as they lose thousands of jobs and strain to attract high-tech industries.</p>

February 27 - The Boston Globe

<p>Chicago Mayor Richard Daley proposed a revised version of a crosstown expressway his father, former Mayor Richard J. Daley, first envisioned almost 30 years ago. The mayor's new plan for a Mid-City Transitway would utilize existing rights of way.</p>

February 27 - The Chicago Tribune

BLOG POST

<p class="MsoNormal">Thousands of New Orleanians have participated in planning their post-Katrina future – likely more than in any single American city-planning effort, ever. Unfortunately, the New Orleans experience definitively demonstrates the limits of orthodox community-focused planning, the kind that has been neighborhood-based and consensus-driven.</p>

February 27 - James S. Russell

<p>Despite ongoing conflict in Afghanistan, Kandahar's officials, residents and planners are envisioning a prosperous and sustainable future for the city.</p>

February 27 - The Globe and Mail

<p>Defying conventional wisdom, more seniors 75 and over are now migrating north rather than south. Often the reason is to be near their children as their health may begin to decline.</p>

February 27 - The New York Times