The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Electric car companies such as Honda are creating smart homes by integrating built-in energy- and money-saving features.

May 2 - FastCompany Exist

BLOG POST

Opposition to NYC's bike infrastructure improvements was loud, emotional, and ultimately ineffective. But can planners like Janette Sadik-Khan learn from seemingly unhinged opponents? Planetizen Blogger Josh Stephens decided to ask.

May 2 - Josh Stephens

A judge's ruling provides a way forward for the proposed Ashby high rise development in Houston—a 21-story residential building that provoked a lawsuit by neighbors who have little recourse to protest developments in their city.

May 2 - Houston Chronicle

The Hollywood Park horseracing track in Inglewood, California, follows the path of racetracks in Sam Mateo and Queens that have recently given way to large housing developments.

May 2 - The Architect's Newspaper

Acknowledging that rising sea levels are a major concern for waterfront cities in Washington, the Municipal Research and Services Center (MRSC) non-profit put together a review of the current policy and planning efforts to meet the challenge.

May 2 - MRSC Insight

The Social Computing Group and the MIT Media Lab have launched the "You Are Here" project, mapping data points from cities where participants have lived. The project has colorful maps of bicycle crashes, coffee shops, and permanent visa applications.

May 2 - You Are Here

A quick city planner's guide to the voluminous Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report out earlier this month.

May 2 - PlaceShakers

Street trees add an interesting dimension to the built environment, providing shade, visual relief and more. They frame the public realm so well that we might be shocked to witness our Main Streets without them. This series of images does just that.

May 2 - Community Builders

Fortunately, there were no injuries in the restored, downtown waterfront district in this city of 71,000. Fifteen cars derailed; three exploded into a six-story-high fireball. Oil spilled into the James River, threatening downstream water supplies.

May 2 - Los Angeles Times

Parts of the East Coast got hit this week by rain and floods in what must certainly be cosmic salt in the wound of a long and intense winter. Luckily for our moods, one local news broadcast caught one biker rising above the wet conditions.

May 2 - Gawker

Andy Freleng recently answered a series of questions about life on Long Island, and its future, from his perspective as chief planner of Suffolk County.

May 1 - The Foggiest Idea

During the American Planning Association's (APA) 2014 National Planning Conference in Atlanta, the APA announced findings from a national opinion survey that shows a clear interest in place-making among the concerns of Americans of all ages.

May 1 - American Planning Association

Calling the property tax, "probably the most controversial tax in the United States," the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and the Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence have released the "50-State Property Tax Comparison Study" for 2013.

May 1 - Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

To deal with its high pollution levels, which rank worse than the EU average, Madrid will implement a new parking fee system that charges more for the most polluting cars. Electric cars will park for free.

May 1 - The Guardian

The California Legislative Analyst's Office released a report, "Film and Television Production: Overview of Motion Picture Industry and State Tax Credits," which recommends caution by lawmakers considering an extension of the state's tax credit.

May 1 - California Legislative Analyst's Office

An investigation by the Philadelphia Inquirer finds that Philadelphia is owed $423 million in "nuisance liens" or unpaid bills for the city's Department of Licenses and Inspections. The city has only collected $15.6 million in owed liens since 2009.

May 1 - Philadelphia Inquirer

Drawing heavily on comparisons to the booms and busts of American cities, a writer describes the perfectly-preserved, abandoned, virtual cities of the popular online game World of Warcraft.

May 1 - AV Club

BLOG POST

Every year we analyze all of the tweets from the APA Conference and tell you about the trends in planning. With more than 1,000 people tweeting from the APA Conference, there is a lot of great ideas, links, and blogs that we can all learn from.

May 1 - Jennifer Evans-Cowley

Money, not trust, is the driving force behind the willingness of so many people to open their doors to the sharing economy, according to one writer.

May 1 - New York Magazine

Although its unclear just how much influence the Department of Transportation's surface transportation authorization bill, called GROW AMERICA, will have (if any at all), the bill makes apparent a sea change with regard to tolling of the interstates.

May 1 - Washington Post