Exclusives

FEATURE

New WTO Rules Could Threaten City Planning

July 10 - Ellen Gould and Andrew Pask

BLOG POST

Mexicans, Machines and Place

The newest Drew Carey video at <a href="http://www.reason.tv/">Reason.tv</a>—<a href="http://www.reason.tv/video/show/451.html">Mexicans and Machines: Why Its Time to Lay Off NAFTA</a>—is (IMHO) brilliant, and triggered more than a couple of thoughts about how technology and progress creates practical challenges for planning.

July 9 - Samuel Staley

BLOG POST

The Bicycle Network

Basic Elements

July 7 - Mike Lydon

BLOG POST

Vancouver's New Policies for Greener Buildings and Large Sites

In my recent post outlining Council's approval of the <a href="http://www.vancouver-ecodensity.ca/content.php?id=42" target="_blank">EcoDensity Charter and Initial Actions</a> I referenced that two new rezoning policies approved by Council (Actions A-1 and A-2) may give Vancouver the highest green requirements for private-sector building design and large site design in North America. Here are these two policies that are in effect as of May 13, 2008.

July 7 - Brent Toderian

FEATURE

Americans Demand More and Better Options

Former Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendening says that Americans are tired of feeling like victims and are ready for innovative changes in how they live and get around.

July 7 - Parris Glendening

BLOG POST

Why Kelo is not a blank check

Last week marked the third anniversary of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Kelo v. New London. The first time I read Kelo, I thought what many Americans probably thought: that any government could seize property for any reason, so long as it compensated prior owners. But after having taught Kelo to law students several times over the past few years, I now realize that Kelo is much more complex. Kelo was a 5-4 decision, and Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote a separate concurrence. Because Justice Kennedy was the “swing vote”, his decision predicts future Court decisionmaking more accurately than the Court’s primary opinion, because a taking which fails to satisfy Kennedy might not be able to get five votes in the Supreme Court.

July 4 - Michael Lewyn

BLOG POST

False Creek North - The Residents' Views

What do the residents of Vancouver's False Creek North think of living in one of the largest centrally located, high-density, pedestrian- and family-oriented mixed-use neighbourhoods in the world?

July 1 - Gordon Price

FEATURE

Autograph Architecture

Architect John Field believes that signature buildings by celebrity architects are destroying the urban fabric and our sense of community.

June 30 - John Field

BLOG POST

Reflecting on Planning and the Planet: Summer Readings that Help You Think

Lastmonth’s blog outlined how to find books recommended by many planners—important,classic, or accessible. However,summer is also a time to push your viewpoint a bit further. For those wantingreadings that might push you tothink differently about planning, the following lists are useful startingpoints. (And a note to planners—we need more of these lists reflecting different placesand people and issues!)

June 29 - Ann Forsyth

BLOG POST

A Journalistic View of Cities

I was reading the New York Times Magazine special architecture issue a few weeks ago when something jumped out at me. On the intro page to the issue of the “Mega-Megalopolis” one of the by-line says “How does an architect plan for a city with no history? Or a city that just keeps growing?” Interesting questions particularly given the fact that to charge architects with the task of planning our cities is affording too much power to a profession that simply doesn’t have it.

June 26 - Scott Page

BLOG POST

Suburbia During the Crash

Maybe it's the rain in New York today, but I'm gloomy. So while<a href="http://www.iftf.org/node/2068"> China collapses</a>, it looks like the mobility-land use solution embodied in many of America's newer suburbs seems to be unravelling due to high oil prices. The IHT reports:

June 26 - Anthony Townsend

BLOG POST

Why Transit is an 'Inferior Good'

In my last post, I suggested that transit’s “resurgence” is, ultimately, much ado about nothing. Transit’s increased ridership, while important for transit managers, will do little to change fundamental travel patterns of US urban areas.

June 25 - Samuel Staley

BLOG POST

The Quest for Energy: The Input/Output Problem

In August of 2006, an unknown Irish company called Steorn took out a full-page ad in The Economist to announce that they had created a magnetic technology that produced more energy than it used- essentially, a perpetual motion machine, the Holy Grail of energy.

June 24 - Tim Halbur

BLOG POST

Learning from exam schools

Yesterday’s Washington Post contained <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/23/AR2008062300297.html?hpid=news-col-blog">a list of elite public schools</a>- schools where the average student SAT is over 1300. Since suburban schools generally have better reputations than urban schools, one might expect that all the schools on the list would be in prestigious suburban school districts. But in fact, this is not the case. Three New York City schools (Stuyvestant, Hunter College, Bronx High) and one school near downtown Richmond (Maggie Walker) are on the high-SAT list- despite the fact that the New York City and Richmond school districts, like nearly all urban school districts, have mediocre reputations.

June 24 - Michael Lewyn

FEATURE

Scooting in a City Built for Cars

Rising gas prices and thickening traffic congestion make small, fuel-efficient scooters seem like a great way to get around. But on roads built mainly for speeding cars, scooting can be scary. Occasional scooter-rider Pam Diaz argues it shouldn't be.

June 23 - Pam Diaz

BLOG POST

Act, React, Repeat

Adaptation is a way of life. But we humans have been building our habitats and cities in pursuit of permanence. This is an unreachable goal. Making our cities and communities and lifestyles adapt to outside influences is typically an afterthought. We do tend to react, and we often react very effectively. But solving problems before they happen has never been a strong suit when it comes to urban development. This is especially true with regard to our impacts on the environment. A recent and bizarre example illustrates this point.

June 19 - Nate Berg

BLOG POST

EcoDensity Approved in Vancouver

After two years of intensive dialogue and debate, education (in all directions) and idea-development, Vancouver's concept of EcoDensity has been translated into Council-approved policy and actions. In past posts I've outlined aspects and steps of this challenging process, which has been tackling head-on what many consider the most controversial but critical aspect of urban sustainability, "density done well".

June 16 - Brent Toderian

FEATURE

Mixed-Use Isn't Enough: 'Omni-Use' Cores Enliven the Metropolis

June 16 - Keith Ray

BLOG POST

Learning from my suburb

For nearly all of my adult life, I have lived in small towns or urban neighborhoods. But for the past two years, I have lived in sprawl. When I moved to Jacksonville two years ago, I moved to Mandarin, a basically suburban neighborhood about nine miles from downtown. As I looked for apartments in 2006, I noticed that in many ways, Mandarin is typical sprawl: our major commercial street (San Jose Boulevard) is as many as eight lanes in some places, and even most apartments are separated from San Jose’s commerce. [See http://atlantaphotos.fotopic.net/c872477.html for my photos of Mandarin and other Jacksonville neighborhoods.] I thought Mandarin would be a typical suburb: homogenously white and upper-middle class.

June 11 - Michael Lewyn

BLOG POST

Are transit ridership numbers more pomp than substance?

The <a href="http://www.apta.com/">American Public Transit Association</a> reports that <a href="http://www.apta.com/media/releases/080602_ridership_report.cfm">transit ridership climbed to 10.3 billion trips during the first quarter of 2008</a>, the “highest number of trips taken in fifty years.” That represents a 3.3 percent increase overall over the previous year while vehicle miles traveled, a measure of demand for car travel, fell by 2.3 percent, they observe.

June 11 - Samuel Staley