The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa imagines a future Los Angeles with transit-oriented development, high-rises, and scores of pocket parks. Critics say the vision is impractical.

February 22 - The Los Angeles Times

Will the frenzy of New Orleans' 'defiantly idiosyncratic character' be replaced by a few tame, touristy neighborhoods like the 'Disneyfied Vieux Carre'?

February 22 - U.S. News & World Report

'The Boys of Baraka' chronicles the lives of four at-risk boys as they travel from their crime-infested neighborhood to a special school in Kenya.

February 22 - San Francisco Weekly

Substantial amounts of flood plain construction could reinvent Katrina all over again around the country.

February 22 - The Baltimore Sun

Planning for 2 million additional Bay Area residents in 25 years, three regional agencies will tie transportation funding to land use development to promote medium and high density housing within 1/2 mile of transit centers.

February 22 - San Francisco Examiner

This editorial from the New York Times highlights the findings of the newly released Brookings study and calls for more investment and collaborative planning in these communities.

February 22 - The New York Times

Asking critics to "rest easy" President Bush pledged to prevent oil drilling within 100 miles of the Florida coast even as he supported a proposal to expand drilling to areas that are now protected.

February 21 - Abhijeet Chavan

Arizona State University's new urban campus will be built -- from scratch -- in downtown Phoenix. The effort is the first of its kind in the nation.

February 21 - The Arizona Republic

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger promises of a greener California are being tested by a proposal to build a major toll road through a state park.

February 21 - The Los Angeles Times

Urban design efforts in New Orleans run 'headlong into the politics of race, class, and power'. Will the new New Orleans be a smaller, wealthier, and less diverse place?

February 21 - U.S. News & World Report

A website provides an estimate of the market value of almost any home in the U.S. along with other information such as recent sale price and value of neighboring homes.

February 21 - The Los Angeles Times

Gritty lofts of the type that you'd find in downtown Manhattan, Los Angeles or Chicago are making their way to the suburbs. It's like having 'A Manhattan loft in the middle of the woods.'

February 21 - The Wall Street Journal

East Coast cities from Boston to Washington plan to sue out-of-state gun dealers in an effort to cut the influx of guns --used in 85 percent of city crimes -- that are bought legally in other states.

February 21 - The Christian Science Monitor

It might have required a jolt from an audit of the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation, but there is increasing evidence that plans to spruce up the area are working.

February 21 - The Toronto Star

With the state's Transportation Trust Fund emptying out on July 1, the governor contemplates securing $6 billion in loans.

February 21 - New Jersey Star-Ledger

The Getty's project manager for its Villa restoration and remodel describes the painstaking work to make a faux Roman Villa into both an authentic approximation of an archeological site and a spectacular setting for classical art.

February 21 - The Planning Report

Cities can't be trusted with sweeping eminent domain powers, writes Reason columnist Jacob Sullum.

February 20 - Reason Magazine

Nature explains the technology behind Google Earth and how the sphere of the planet's surface is converted to a polygon made up of flat tiles.

February 20 - Nature

If signed into law, the bill would require local schools and state agencies to use fuel containing at least 2% biodiesel.

February 20 - Creative Loafing Atlanta

FEATURE

February 20 - Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP