The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Valerie Keehn rode a wave of resentment over new development in Saratoga Springs to become the city's new mayor, surprising many, and worrying the development and planning communities.

January 3 - Business Review / MSNBC

Researchers at UC Berkeley determine that Los Angeles' new Orange busway has reduced traffic on the 101 Freeway, although in such a small amount that most commuters have not noticed.

January 3 - The Los Angeles Times

Depsite having the most concentrated population of the homeless in the western US, $10 billion in investment is transforming gritty downtown Los Angeles into a "Manhattan of the West Coast."

January 3 - The Washington Post

With a decisive win in his re-election, Mayor Bloomberg spoke to his priorities for his final term as chief of the the US's largest city in his second inaugural address on New Year's Day: Affordable housing and the World Trade Center.

January 3 - The New York Times

While Congress quickly approved $3 billion to restore New Orleans' levees, a bill to help states repair aging dams has languished for a year.

January 3 - The Christian Science Monitor

MIT's Smart Cities team proposes a "stackable car" to be used as part of a public transportation program, much like those bicycle-sharing programs in Europe. [Includes photos.]

January 2 - The Guardian

The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District in December, 2005 approved the Indirect Source Rule, making it the first Air District in the US to regulate land uses, much to the ire of the building industry. Will they take the Air District to court?

January 2 - The Stockton Record

Will San Francisco finally get its train station? Plans are underway to create the "Grand Central Terminal of the West" from the underused Transbay Terminal.

January 2 - New York Times (Real Estate)

Despite a history of plentify supply, water is a central issue in New Jersey's future growth as it races to become the first state to reach full build-out of its developable land.

January 2 - Courier -News

A new report from Harvard shows that Boston's housing affordability crisis is created fundamentally by regulation.

January 2 - The Boston Globe

In Vancouver, Conservative leader Stephen Harper announces that public-transit users would be eligible for a tax credit under a Tory government.

January 1 - The Globe and Mail

The stubborn car culture rooted in American suburbanism does not have to be fought; eventually, through successful examples and experiments, the automobile will be viewed as a valued commodity in certain situations, rather than a ubiquitous solution.

January 1 - AlterNet

Portland activists are trying to preserve a seven-acre community farm as a model for environmentally sound living.

January 1 - Willamette Week

An editorial outlines ideas for dampening effects of California's Ellis Act, which allows landlords to "go out of business" and evict tenants, possibly in order to sell buildings for condo conversion.

January 1 - The San Francisco Bay Guardian

A Boulder County writer argues that the local social service agency has separated children from parents due only to impoverished living conditions.

January 1 - Boulder Weekly

A large development may be constructed near Boise in the wake of arguments between city and county planning officials.

December 31 - The Boise Weekly

A non-profit affordable housing developer sets an example as one of the first to move into an impoverished neighborhood.

December 31 - Oklahoma Gazette

From a huge investment by Amazon.com's founder to a fake Prada store, something is brewing in Far West Texas.

December 31 - The Texas Observer

In Detroit, a new program sues absentee landlords to force them to renovate their property -- unlike citations, property owners face the threat of losing their property, which can then be put up for auction on a county website.

December 31 - Detroit Metro Times

Manassas, Virginia, is using a zoning ordinance to redefine family, in an attempt to curb possible consequences of illegal immigration.

December 31 - The Washington Post