The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Google May Help Reverse Michigan's Brain Drain

State and local officials hope Google's announcement of plans to open new facility in Ann Arbor, MI, will attract more companies to the area.

July 13 - The Detroit Free Press

Worries Over The Success Of New Urbanist Town Center

Neighbors of a successful "downtown" project in a Minneapolis suburb voice concerns that its success may mean more density and parking nightmares for their community.

July 13 - Minneapolis Star-Tribune

South Koreans Investing Heavily In U.S. Real Estate

Part of a world-wide boom in cross-border investment, investors from South Korea are pumping a flood of money into the real estate markets of many U.S. cities.

July 13 - Wall Street Journal via The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Digital Mapping Companies Strive to Remain Current

Road construction projects and new subdivisions are keeping digital mapping companies busy updating their navigation products.

July 13 - The New York Times

The Total Flying Experience

In the begining there was the duty-free shop. These days, though, airports contain a multitude of shopping, dining, and entertainment options, essentially doubling as a suburban mall.

July 13 - The Next American City


Higher Taxes Could Encourage Sprawl

Proposed tax hikes in San Francisco could hurt the region's smart growth efforts by encouraging businesses to move out of the center city.

July 13 - The San Francisco Chronicle

Washington State Will Vote On Property Rights Initiative

Supporters and opponents of the controversial proposal are preparing for a major campaign in the fall.

July 13 - The Seattle Times


Seaside, New Zealand?

After touring Seaside, Florida, a New Zealand developer is taking inspiration back home and developing two master-planned communities with garden parks and communal areas. Plans are underway to bring New Urbanism to New Zealand.

July 13 - The New Zealand Herald

Californians May Soon Be Cooking With Cow Power

With the largest dairy herds in the U.S., California could generate up to 5% of its natural gas from cow manure.

July 13 - The San Francisco Chronicle

What Happens When A Company Town Scales Back Public Services?

The quaint lumber company town of Scotia, California, fears a merger with its slightly larger, but economically-depressed neighbor across the river.

July 12 - The New York Times

Mass Transit Under Attack

Seven bombs exploded on Mumbai's commuter rail system, the lifeline of the world's fifth most populous metro area. These bombings are the lastest in a decade of terrorist attacks on mass transit around the world.

July 12 - The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Will Tampa Be The Next New Orleans?

A University of South Florida professor predicts that a hurricane with similar intensity as Katrina would cause even greater devastation to Tampa Bay than was experienced by New Orleans in 2005.

July 12 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Planning for Good Health

Sacramento's MPO thinks it's time to re-establish the old link between public health and city planning. But is smart growth really healthier? And whose responsibility is it to build healthy cities anyways?

July 12 - The Next American City

The Younger Crowd Wants Transit

As the country's housing preferences shift from the widely spread to the urban and dense, the prevalence of transit-oriented development planning increases.

July 12 - Smart Growth Online

When Downtown Becomes Too 'Livable'

With residential development booming, Vancouver officials are concerned that the downtown is losing its commercial vitality.

July 12 - Governing

Urban Renewal in Post-Industrial Detroit

As part of a larger, worldwide series, Guardian's architecture critic Dejan Sudjik writes about grand plans for Detroit's turnaround.

July 12 - BBC News

Bruegmann: Urban Myths About Sprawl And Congestion

Robert Bruegmann, author of "Sprawl: A Compact History," writes that traffic congestion is caused not by sprawl but by misconceptions about sprawl.

July 12 - The Los Angeles Times

U.S. Population Goes Coastal

Every day 1,500 new homes rise along the U.S. coastline. National Geographic asks, "Are America's coastlines are in danger of being loved to death?"

July 12 - National Geographic

South Africa To Distribute Industry

The South African government has unveiled a new plan to spread its industrial development -- and the jobs it provides -- to poor regions in the country.

July 12 - Business Day

Planning For Border Zones

Architect Teddy Cruz shares his philosophy on architectural and urban planning solutions for the problems that proliferate in international border zones.

July 12 - Architecture Radio

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