The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Small Town Leading Efforts To Be More Inclusive

Bluffton, Indiana, is one of many small cities across the country making renewed efforts towards creating racial harmony in hopes of spurring economic development.

August 7 - USA Today

Connecting Smart Growth and Economic Development

A new report uses eight different case studies to illustrate the connections between smart growth development and a community's employment sector, wealth, and quality of life.

August 7 - The International Economic Development Council

When Life Doesn't Imitate Art

As television uses more and more suburban settings, viewers should ask how closely do the on-screen places resemble reality.

August 7 - The Next American City

Global Warming Bill Represents A Quandary For Shwarzenegger

Having just signed an historic environmental accord with PM Blair, CA Gov. Schwarzenegger will soon face a bill that ties him to his rhetoric - the first bill in the nation to cap greenhouse gas emissions, that has been targeted by Big Business.

August 7 - The Associated Press via The Desert Sun

Americans Disapprove Of Bush's Environmental Policies

Poll finds majority of Americans are unhappy with the Bush administration's environmental policies.

August 7 - Abhijeet Chavan


FEATURE

Urban Fables: The Role Of Storytelling And Imagery In Successful Planning Movements

New Urbanists and pro-property rights advocates have made good use of both allegory and myth to capture the attention of planners and the public.

August 7 - Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

Property Rights Votes Face Six States

Libertarians are pushing ballot initiatives in six Western states to vastly reduce the government's power to regulate land uses. The initiatives seek to limit regulatory takings of land by requiring the government to compensate owners for any losses.

August 7 - High Country News


Markets Attack, Or, Why Plan?

UCLA planning professor and blogger Randall Crane revisits the markets vs planning debate, but this time from a position of moral and intellectual superiority.

August 7 - Randall Crane's Urban Planning Research

How The Casinos Hit The Jackpot In Biloxi

Despite a critical housing shortage and badly needed road repairs, the city of Biloxi sees an influx of casinos due to a change in state legislation.

August 7 - The Wall Street Journal via The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Upscale Suburban City Looks At Options For Creating Affordable Housing

Planning commissioners from Santa Clarita, California, have recent visited several Southern California cities with affordable housing ordinances in hopes of gaining insight for a possible inclusionary housing ordinance.

August 6 - The Signal News

New Delhi's Terrible Traffic

Study blames New Delhi's hazardous traffic conditions on corruption.

August 6 - The Los Angeles Times

Michigan County Hopes To Preserve Farmland

Rural Lapeer County, near Flint, Michigan, is proposing to use public money to compensate farmers in exchange for limiting new residential and commercial development.

August 6 - WJRT ABC 12

Wal-Mart Struggles, Pulls Out Of Europe

After struggling for years in Germany, Wal-Mart is discovering that its formula for success struggles in cultures not wholly dependent on the automobile.

August 6 - The New York Times

Ten Principles for Creating Value from Local Government Property

Local authorities in the UK are responsible for around £130 billion of real estate. Arguably, this asset base represents the largest untapped resource in local government.

August 6 - Urban Land Institute

Toronto's Bus Rapid Transit Success Story

The city's suburban express-bus network has attracted attention from transit administrators from the U.S. due to its high-tech and rider-friendly service.

August 6 - The Toronto Star

Ethnic Diversity Increasing in Canada's Suburbs

In its final installment on Canada's suburbs, the Globe and Mail looks at the energizing impact of Asian immigrants on British Columbia's lower mainland.

August 5 - The Globe and Mail

California's Failed Attempts With Alternative Fuels

The state's efforts to wean itself from petroleum since the 1979 oil shock have not produced a shift away from gasoline powered cars, though regulations have proven successful in improving air quality.

August 5 - The Wall Street Journal

France's Pedestrian Utopia

The French city of Montpellier's experiment in car-free planning is a future worth sharing, writes John Allemang.

August 5 - The Globe and Mail

An Interview With Taubman's Dewar On Brownfields Redevelopment

Margaret Dewar is a Professor of Architecture and Urban Planning at the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan. She's researching why CBOs are successful or not in brownfields reuse.

August 5 - Lincoln Institute of Lan Policy, Land Lines

Building Green Has Become Mainstream

With officials demanding more sustainable development and consumer interest at an all time high, a critical mass of developers are starting to see the value in building "green".

August 5 - USA Today

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