The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Texas publishes plans a massive $175-billion transportation blueprint for the next 50 years -- built largely with private funds.

January 5 - The Los Angeles Times

Towns and cities are wary of participating in Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's affordable housing strategy.

January 4 - The Boston Globe

More communities are proposing rules that would require big box retailers to set aside money for future demolition.

January 4 - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Urban sprawl and traffic threaten black bears in Central Florida.

January 4 - Sun-Sentinel

Columnist John King offers his forecasts for best 2005 urban designs in Northern California.

January 4 - The San Francisco Chronicle

Is demolition the best solution for urban blight?

January 4 - National Public Radio

Our current society -- based heavily on the subdivision and development -- benefits from more people.

January 4 - The Baltimore Sun

Las Vegas monorail is up and running for holiday peak business.

January 4 - The Washington Post

Societies fail when they mismanage earth's ecosystems, explains author Jared Diamond in his latest book, 'Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed'.

January 4 - The New Yorker

The Toronto Star's architecture critic looks ahead at 2005 and likes what he sees.

January 4 - The Toronto Star

Chief planner focuses on land-use plan as first step in revitilizing the Anacostia River

January 4 - The Washington Post

BLOG POST

Because I can: here's another Wired story I can flack. Writer David Goldenberg collects half a dozen examples of supercool, high-tech <a href="http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.01/bridge.html">bridges</a> in the latest issue. When Chris or Abhijeet teach me how to upload pics with our new software, I'll put a couple here. Meanwhile, the story's online. Salient bits:<br /> <br /> <blockquote>Today, an explosion of new designs and materials is creating a third golden age of bridge building. Cable-stays transfer the load on the roadway to towers via radiating wires. Electromagnetic dampers and giant underwater shock absorbers resist the kinetic energy of wind, quakes, and collisions. Sensors - fiber-optic cables, digital cameras, and accelerometers - let engineers know how bridges are holding up in real time. And higher-performing steel, concrete, and carbon fiber-reinforced polymers are making spans lighter, stronger, longer, and taller.</blockquote>

January 3 - Anonymous

The 41-story Singer Building, an elegant Beaux-Arts tower, was the tallest in the world when it was completed in 1908. Why was it demolished in 1967?

January 3 - The New York Times

New Jersey approves a study of personal rapid transit for Long Branch, a shore town just south of NYC. The New York Press calls it an 'epic boondoggle'.

January 3 - New York Press

Plans for downtown Riverside hope to create a "cultural hot spot" that will draw from Inland Southern California's growing population.

January 3 - The Los Angeles Times

There are sound economic models for privately financed teams and venues, so why does government insist on subsizing stadiums?

January 3 - The Baltimore Sun

According to a state study, new inter-county highway in Maryland planned to reduce congestion would increase traffic instead.

January 3 - The Baltimore Sun

Philadelphia Mayor Street's multimillion-dollar effort to reduce blight in city neighborhoods appears to be working.

January 3 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Poorly planned development has made India's coastlines vulnerable.

January 3 - Channel News Asia

The P-I looks back on the major decisions from 2004 that will shape Seattle's land use for years to come.

January 3 - The Seattle Post-Intelligencer