The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

“[There] is something about the frequency with which California and 'the future' are used synonymously,’ writes Kristin Miller. But the future looks much different when set in Southern California as compared to Northern California.

March 6 - BOOM: A Journal of California

Wendell Cox reviews a new working paper by Alain Bertaud called “Cities as Labor Markets.” Cox calls the lesson contained therein “Urban Planning 101” and a “much needed midcourse correction to urban planning around the world.”

March 6 - New Geography

With its own “Vision Zero” goals in place to eliminate pedestrian fatalities within a decade, San Francisco has developed the WalkFirst plan to target the most dangerous intersections in the city for safety improvements.

March 6 - The San Francisco Examiner

Edward Glaeser pens an opinion piece on the missing ingredient in the bus riding experience—cool. Not necessarily Mick Jagger cool, but definitely Steve Jobs cool.

March 6 - The Boston Globe

At a recent Las Vegas city retreat, city leaders and outside experts presented ideas for the future of Las Vegas. Among the ideas proposed: emulate Orlando, Florida.

March 6 - Las Vegas Review-Journal

The extent to which cities will build data collection systems into the infrastructure—or how much we’ll voluntarily gather and share information from our smartphones—has yet to be determined. Here is a survey of what some cities have launched so far.

March 6 - Woodhouse

How best to "plug the growing hole" in the Highway Trust Fund which provides the federal revenue for roads and transit: increase the gas tax, new vehicle miles traveled fees, more road tolls, or "corporate tax reform"? All but one is a user fee.

March 6 - Politico Morning Transportation

Adrienne LaFrance surveys the bike scene in Washington D.C.—from co-ops to bikeshare programs to social groups.

March 6 - The Washington Post

At a recent hearing of the Northeastern Illinois Public Transit Task Force, experts like Peter Skosey made the case for the types of changes necessary to meet Chicago’s goals for increased transit ridership, focusing on transit oriented development.

March 6 - Chi.Streetsblog

Flint Mayor Dayne Walling used the occasion of his recent State of the City speech to call for a $70 million “war on blight” that would include the demolition of 6,000 buildings.

March 5 - Mlive.com

A pair of recent articles examine what it’s like to use public transit every day, year after year. One examines the mechanics of on-time delivery and service—the other, the unwritten rules of ridership.

March 5 - Greater Greater Washington

The Imagine 2020 program calls for partnerships between public agencies and the private sector—not to mention residents—in delivering new public art around the city of Denver.

March 5 - The Denver Post

The city of Providence has announced the first draft of a comprehensive zoning code update—its first since 1994.

March 5 - The Providence Journal

In EPA’s leadership blog, Administrator Gina McCarthy announces the agency's new standards to reduce the sulfur content in gasoline by 60% in 2017 and new Tier 3 emission standards for cars and light trucks to reduce criteria and toxic air pollutants

March 5 - EPA Connect

Chris Bruntlett draws on precedents from across North America to illustrate simple ways that our cities can better serve, entertain, and nurture children.

March 5 - Spacing

Not everyone is sold on the idea of vertical cities, populated with futuristic skyscrapers beyond the proportions of earlier eras. But for as long cities bear the brunt of the world’s population growth, explorations of verticality will continue.

March 5 - Sourceable

A recent long-read describes the current state of the competition for primacy in the world of online mapping tools. The champ—Google Maps. The challenger—OpenStreetMap.

March 5 - The Next Web

Given the unprecedented nature of the gentrification occurring in American cities, many cities have had to respond swiftly to the pressures of changing neighborhoods. A new article surveys cities using property tax relief to support urban homeowners.

March 5 - New York Times

FEATURE

With cities seeking to involve diverse voices in city-making to get beyond “the usual suspects,” Vancouver urbanists Brent Toderian and Jillian Glover examine how cities in their region are finding new ways to increase civic participation.

March 5 - Brent Toderian

Governments should look to land value tax to fund large city-building projects.

March 4 - Future Cities