The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Cuba's experience with a dramatic decrease in energy supplies since the fall of the Soviet Union affords the rest of the world a glimpse of what the end of cheap oil might look like.

March 1 - Global Public Media

BLOG POST

<img src="http://www.arb.ca.gov/images/arbheader1.gif" align="right" WIDTH="200" alt="California Air Resources Board" />I was interested to find <a href="http://www.madpenguin.org/cms/html/62/6296.html">this interview</a> with Bill Welt, the Chief Information Officer of the<a href="http://www.arb.ca.gov/homepage.htm">California Air Resources Board</a> (ARB), discussing with ARB is increasingly building models and applications using Open Source software. The interview appears on the <a href="http://www.madpenguin.org/">Mad Penguin</a>

March 1 - Chris Steins

A UK based town planning agency has been asked to look at the future of Najaf in Iraq.

March 1 - BBC News

In rare form, a Mississippi electric company is taking the lead in the redevelopment process and producing a win-win situation for both the company and for the city of Jackson.

March 1 - Clarion Ledger

A New England seaside community considers a second village center; what characteristics will ensure its success?

March 1 - Newburyport Political Blog

Will a new bill help those entering the confusing legal labyrinth of homeowner associations, including some purported to force residents to sign away their constitutional rights?

February 28 - New Jersey Star-Ledger

University of Maryland researchers will conduct a series of visioning exercises to pick locations for future jobs and housing by placing Legos building blocks on a map. It's the latest trend in growth visioning exercises.

February 28 - The Baltimore Sun

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger acts to protect California's crumbling levee system for the Sacramento Delta. Emergency status allows work to progress without waiting for environmental review.

February 28 - The Los Angeles Times

Without a doubt, Shanghai has surpassed Tokyo in terms of urban energy, buzz, and style.

February 28 - International Herald Tribune

With a booming economy, a population bursting with enthusiasm, and increased investment in infrastructure, the world's largest democracy is moving closer to the world's richest democracy, says Newsweek editor Fareed Zakaria.

February 28 - Newsweek

BLOG POST

Several years ago I was with a group of people who decided to approach the makers of SimCity to see if we could convince them to develop a similar but more credible tool for planners, enabling towns and their residents to look at real planning challenges and experiment with different scenarios in their own community. The response was a solid "no, we're not interested, we're interested in making games.”<br /> <br /> Can't blame them, considering the market for gamers is easily a thousand-fold greater than that for serious minded planners (not to mention realistic planning tools need real data to run credible analysis; imaginary cities don't).

February 28 - Ken Snyder

Consumer electronics, with their ubiquity, rapid technological advances, ever-lower prices, and fashion trends, have never been easier to buy -- or throw away.

February 28 - The Independent

With its numerous abandoned buildings, stark divisions between wealth and poverty, and high (for Canada) crime rate, should Winnipeg re-evaluate its emphasis on downtown revitalization?

February 28 - The Globe and Mail

Nearly all of the Maryland Transit Administration's Central Light Rail Line is now double tracked -- at long last.

February 28 - The Baltimore Sun

How to find shelter in a wealthy suburban county without paying rent or a mortgage.

February 28 - Washington Citypaper

Planners in one of the fastest growing cities in the country are proposing a transit-supportive land use plan that will link public investment in transit with private investment in land development.

February 28 - Las Vegas Review Journal

American bay boomers are cashing out of the U.S. housing market and trying out early retirement in Baja.

February 27 - The Los Angeles Times

Use of a "Naked" or "Barebones" checklist as the basis for an initial CEQA study is not legally defensible, according to land use attorney Kevin Kozal.

February 27 - Christopher A. Joseph & Associates - The CEQA Expert

Development in Shanghai and Osaka over the past decade shows one region growing fast, the other stuck in the mud.

February 27 - International Herald Tribune

43 bills have hit the legislature, in attempts to limit government power.

February 27 - The Baltimore Sun