Texas
More Drivers Pumping Less Fuel In California & U.S.
Since 2002, California has added 8.3% more drivers while reducing its gasoline consumption by 3.5%. And while taking the lead, they are not alone in this trend. Credit high fuel prices, economic stress and improved car technology for the reduction.
Austin Releases An All Encompassing New 30 Year Plan
The city of Austin has released a new 197 page planning document to manage its population growth and inform planning decisions for the next three decades.
Funds Scarce for Texas' Water Conservation Plans
Texas is getting dryer and dryer--and the costs to implement water delivery projects only go up as localities and regions scramble to secure the bulk of the funds necessary to build them. Ramit Plushnick-Masti reports.
Urban Village Rising in El Paso
Montecillo, a 293-acre 'urban village', is the first development to take advantage of El Paso's new Smart Code. The project launched in May, and the developer is already preparing to get Phase 2 off the ground.
Drugs and Economic Success in El Paso
El Paso is seen as one of the more successful mid-sized cities in the U.S. But as this op-ed from Domus explores, the fuel behind that success is the drug trafficking that has plagued Mexico and its border with the U.S.
$417 Million To Fund Highway Projects
Last week, the Federal Highway Administration awarded discretionary highway grants in what could be among the last expenditures before the Sept. 30 expiration of the gas tax. Included were $8m for Value Pricing Pilot Program projects in 5 states.
Texas Infrastructure Under Gov. Perry
Now that Gov. Perry has declared his candidacy for President, the Houston Chronicle has begun a series of articles to spotlight how infrastructure has fared under the state's longest serving governor. Transportation is the focus of the first report.
Making Places in Houston
Houston is leading the way in creating new public spaces. This article from The Project for Public Spaces looks at a few of the city's efforts.
Placemaking Capital of the U.S.: Houston?
The Project for Public Spaces says that despite its reputation as a sprawling, planning-free city, Houston is turning the lack of city planning to its advantage by inspiring a bottom-up approach.
Quality Housing Stands the Test of Time
Patrick Kennedy stresses the importance of quality over quantity in residential housing by comparing houses in McKinney, North Texas, with those on Swiss Avenue near Downtown Dallas.
Does Dallas-Fort Worth's Urban Form Affect Its Music Scene?
Observer music writers Pete Freeman and Daniel Hopkins debate the affects of suburban sprawl on the local music scene.
BP Bankrolls $1 Billion to Restore Texas Wetlands
Created by President Obama in response to the BP oil spill last summer, the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Task Force is now working on a project that restores the flow of sediments to wetlands in Texas. Funding from BP helps facilitate the costly process.
A 'Drought-Proof' City
By focusing on reducing water use to levels that could be served by its two water sources, the city of El Paso, Texas, has been able to quench its thirst without running dry.
Developers Balk at New Landscape Code
Last week, the El Paso City Council approved a new city ordinance that broadens restrictions on landscaping in new developments. Opponents say the restrictions will discourage growth.
Emergence in Public Parks
The sudden appearance of a ping pong table in a public park in Dallas is a perfect example of the concept of emergence in cities, according to this post on Pegasus News.
The Social Life of Dallas City Hall Plaza
Filmmaker Aaron Garcia uses narration from William H. Whyte's classic The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces to highlight the failings of the I.M. Pei-designed Dallas City Hall Plaza.
Houston: City of the Year?
Fast Company chooses Houston as its 2011 City of the Year, citing its sense of opportunity and general affordability as the major reasons for its selection.
Houston Roadway Would Fuel Growth, Harm Migratory Birds
Plans to build a parkway around Houston will help ease traffic and spur growth in the region, but it will also run right through a key stopover point for millions of migrating birds.
"You Can Call It Sprawl, Or You Can Call it Quality of Life"
That's Billy Burge of the Grand Parkway Association, referring to a plan in Houston, Texas to expand the city out into greenfields on the outskirts of the city.
Super WiFi Hits the Streets
A Houston grandmother could be the first person in the country to get "super WiFi", high-speed wireless internet transmitted over newly accessible segments of the broadcast spectrum.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Greater Baltimore Committee
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association
