The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>Prestigious Manhattan locations are being purchased by absentee buyers for their occasional visits, with ill effects for those who want to call Manhattan their first home. New construction is often targeted for wealthy part-timers, not residents.</p>

February 12 - The Wall Street Journal

<p>Higher interest rates, cooling housing markets, restrictive mortgages and more cautious banks are combining to choke off the home refinancing market. The current wave of mortgage defaults could be just the "tip of the iceberg."</p>

February 12 - The Wall Street Journal

<p>Recovery and reconstruction have seen rapid success in Sadr City, Baghdad's largest predominantly Shiite area. Many have moved to this former slum, while violence tends to occur mainly in Sunni areas of Baghdad receiving few recovery resources.</p>

February 12 - International Herald Tribune

<p>Improving Newburgh, New York's connectivity to Manhattan is being called a "no-brainer" planning goal by Andres Duany, as planners look to redevelop the city's Hudson riverfront. But city officials say many hurdles have kept that goal out of reach.</p>

February 12 - Times Herald-Record

<p>This video from the <em>BBC</em> follows the journey of a car through the inner workings at an automated parking garage in New York City.</p>

February 12 - BBC

<p>A new report from the Conference Board of Canada says that Canada's cities are neglected and disempowered, and need more taxing power of their own and more direct investments from other levels of government.</p>

February 12 - The Globe & Mail

<p>While states take the lead in planning for ocean protection, the U.S. federal government lags behind. This editorial from <em>The Washington Post</em> calls on the federal government to make like its states and commit to protecting the oceans.</p>

February 12 - The Washington Post

<p>After 15 years, a university president's ambitious plans to improve his school have made an equal -- if not bigger -- impact on the surrounding region.</p>

February 11 - The Orlando Sentinel

<p>In an effort to stop the creation of a 26-mile commuter rail line connecting Atlanta to numerous suburbs, Georgia lawmakers are hoping to pass a bill requiring voters in each city and county along the proposed line to individually approve funding.</p>

February 11 - Henry Daily Herald

<p>The U.S. State Department is having trouble filling positions in reconstruction teams in Iraq. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says there is a shortage of city planners and engineers on the ground in Iraq, and getting more may be difficult.</p>

February 11 - NPR

<p>Dirt is the latest material being used in homes as environmentally conscious homeowners look to live more sustainability.</p>

February 11 - The New York Times

<p>Planning students at the University of Oregon have partnered with consultants to examine and offer advice on plans to redevelop a Eugene street corridor as a mixed use development. The students have also held public hearings to gather resident input.</p>

February 11 - Oregon Daily Emerald

<p>Architecture critic Blair Kamin questions a recent list of American's favorite buildings.</p>

February 10 - The Chicago Tribune

<p>President Bush wants to give $305 million to cities and states to come up with ways to charge drivers for traveling at peak traffic.</p>

February 10 - The Christian Science Monitor

<p>Serious analysts across the political spectrum are coming to the same conclusion: the housing market is set to crash, and with it, the economy.</p>

February 10 - The Market Oracle

<p>The nation's zeal to break its oil addiction has run into conflict with a land conservation program that has been important to both farmers and hunting groups in order to boost corn production to supply ethanol as a renewable transportation fuel.</p>

February 10 - AP via Yahoo News

<p>In order to alleviate congestion and auto-dependency, mass transportation proponents are working diligently to develop southeast Michigan's first commuter rail line.</p>

February 10 - Model D

<p>Experts disagree on the effectiveness of strategies ranging from reforestation and efficient cook stoves to renewable energy projects and low-carbon economies. Environmentalists are pushing for regulation of the erratic carbon offset marketplace.</p>

February 9 - The Christian Science Monitor

<p>Liberal Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson has been successfully building support for smart growth during his seven years at the helm of this conservative city. Grist sits down with the Mayor to learn the secret of his success.</p>

February 9 - Grist

<p>Canada's official multiculturalism -- which is more about celebrating diversity than achieving equality -- is encouraging a dramatic growth in urban and suburban ethnic enclaves, and may be impeding integration with the larger society.</p>

February 9 - The Globe & Mail