The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>Many Iraqi families have struggled to find safe, decent and affordable shelter since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime.</p>

December 29 - The New York Times

<p>Wind energy is touted as an affordable and environment-friendly source for generating electricity. But that's not the whole story.</p>

December 29 - The New York Times

<p>Cities are increasing considering rooftop gardens to bring nature back to urban areas.</p>

December 29 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>The Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program has published its list of the top ten most noteworthy urban and demographic trends affecting U.S. metropolitan regions in 2006.</p>

December 29 - The Brookings Institution

<p>Grist takes a look at political commentator Rick Gray's proposal for a gas tax scheme that Americans could stand.</p>

December 29 - Grist

<p>A 60s-era motel lobby is getting the star treatment from local preservationists eager to save a piece of the city's former glory.</p>

December 29 - The Chicago Tribune

<p>A new study seeks to understand what cultivates public interaction on the steps of Brooklyn's famed brownstones.</p>

December 29 - The Brooklyn Papers

<p>China's officials say its controversial population-control measure is still crucial for the welfare of the nation, where 800 million rural residents still live in poverty.</p>

December 29 - CNN

<p>In an unusual victory for both property rights and wildlife, the Nature Conservancy has entered into a unique arrangement with three Skagit County, Washington farmers to rent and flood 210 acres of cropland on behalf of migrating waterfowl.</p>

December 29 - The New York Times

<p>New reality show takes the viewer into the world of a Hollywood actress and her environmentally-extreme husband.</p>

December 28 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>Richmond, Virginia is one of many cities using innovative strategies to deal with the consequences of a shrinking population.</p>

December 28 - USA Today

<p>The Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program provides a review of its work in 2006, along with a list of the ten most noteworthy trends.</p>

December 28 - The Brookings Institution

<p>Studies tracking subjects in HUD's Moving to Opportunity program have shown surprising results. While girls thrive and adults feel safer after moving to more affluent neighborhoods, boys actually fare worse. And incomes don't rise.</p>

December 28 - The Wall Street Journal

<p>Warren Karlenzig sums up 2006 from the perspective of sustainability in state and local government.</p>

December 28 - Green A City

<p>Several cities in the Pacific Northwest are encouraging the construction of smaller homes to help deal with the shortage of affordable housing.</p>

December 28 - Business Week

<p>A new paper questions the planning assumptions regarding the replacement of Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct.</p>

December 28 - Sightline Institute

<p>With officials deciding to shutdown the city's water system for 24 hours to make repairs, Mumbaikars creatively meet the challenges of daily life without running water for a day.</p>

December 28 - BBC News

FEATURE

Keeping track of the weird things that occur in the planning and government world -- from Barry Manilow to brothels -- isn't really necessary. But someone should do it anyways.

December 28 - Rick Bishop, AICP

<p>Marjory Stoneman Douglas saved Florida's Everglades, but was impoverished, blind and deaf in old age. Friends seeking to help persuaded the state to buy her property for a museum, letting her stay till she died; now the state wants to sell the land.</p>

December 28 - Sun-Sentinel

<p>2006 officially marks the year where blown-up Santa and Homer Simpson lawn decorations have spread to suburbs across the United States. Is this a good thing?</p>

December 28 - The New York Times