The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Bedroom community Maitland wants to convert its strip commercial core to a downtown, but guidelines mandate open space. Redefining 'open space' has opened a door to greater intensity -- and controversy.

June 7 - The Orlando Sentinel

With a footprint as big as New York City but with a tenth of the population, and with no natural limits on growth, Calgary struggles to rein in suburban sprawl.

June 7 - The Globe and Mail

A young couple leaves a spacious, affordable Chicago apartment to live in a cramped East Village, Manhattan apartment. Slide show with audio and related article describe their old and new digs, as well as the arduous hunt for their new home.

June 7 - The New York Times

Henry Paulson, "global warming believer" and current chair of Goldman Sachs and the Nature Conservancy, has been nominated by Bush to succeed John Snow as Treasury Secretary.

June 7 - Associated Press via New York Times

Dubai is leading the pace as one of the world's fastest growing cities.

June 7 - Flickr

FEATURE

June 7 - Mike Lydon

Some people prefer the suburban sprawl, in spite of soaring gas prices and hour-long commutes. Schools, open space, and lower cost of housing may offset costs.

June 7 - Puget Sound Business Journal

Urban planner Kyle Ezell has developed a course to teach suburbanites the "skills" required for downtown living. It promotes the "ruppie", or "retired urban people" lifestyle.

June 7 - The Chicago Tribune

What declining Detroit can learn from booming Bangalore.

June 6 - Abhijeet Chavan

When is a brownfield not a brownfield? When it's transformed by art works, as in two U.S. cities.

June 6 - The Trust for Public Land

Increased demand for water in the metropolitan Atlanta area is forcing the Atlanta Regional Commission to look to South Carolina and Tennessee for additional supplies.

June 6 - Atlanta Business Chronicle

Modernist park design inspires modernist residential buildings, increasing real estate values in Chicago's East Loop.

June 6 - The New York Times

According to NYC's Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the average rental price in the city is $1000. And that includes five boroughs and non-regulated apartments of all shapes and sizes.

June 6 - The New York Times

While cities that have never suffered terrorism are receiving large increases in homeland security funding, New York City's allocation is being cut by 40 percent after faulty analysis omits reference to iconic sites, critics charge.

June 6 - New York Daily News

Former President Clinton, addressing the shopping center industry's convention in Las Vegas, urged the adoption of LEED certification for new centers, explaining how it would benefit the security of the country and the economy.

June 6 - The Denver Post

FEATURE

June 6 - Lainie Herrera

New political willpower demonstrated by Philadelphia's mayor, a state senator, and Governor Rendell has opened the door for much-needed development in the area.

June 6 - The Philadelphia Daily News

The Pacific Northwest trumps this year's rankings, although a number of older East Coast cities also make the top ten. Criteria considered include commitment to public health, the local economy, and citizens and city cooperation on long-term goals.

June 6 - Marketwatch

BLOG POST

There's been an increasing number of urban projects breaking out the paint brushes as a low-cost means of improving cities. As stated by Jaime Lerner, former Mayor of Curitiba, for every zero that is removed from a city budget, the more creative solutions become. It seems these examples represent areas with extremely limited budgets. Object Orange is a public art project in Detroit that is calling attention to blighted structures through the use of bright orange paint. It seems their efforts have resulted in their desired outcome - increased demolition of unsafe structures.

June 6 - Scott Page

Joel Kotkin takes issue with Paul Graham's recent commentary on "How To Be Silicon Valley", asserting that his logic is elitist and much of his evidence incorrect, in this three-part Inc.com blog entry.

June 5 - Inc.com