The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

New Orleans High-Rise Projects Fall By The Wayside

<p>Though a myriad of development plans have been announced, the slow recovery has put the future of many projects in doubt.</p>

May 31 - Forbes

The Driving Force Behind NYC's Greening Effort

<p>Rohit Aggarwala, a Columbia-educated former business consultant, is helping to create and implement New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's sustainability plan -- PlaNYC.</p>

May 31 - The New York Sun

Two Titans For Evanston?

<p>The Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois is considering two competing proposals for new skyscrapers in its downtown.</p>

May 31 - The Chicago Tribune

Vancouver Struggles With Homelessness, Affordable Housing

<p>As Vancouver prepares for the 2010 Winter Olympics, rampant homelessness and a lack of affordable low-income housing threatens to tarnish the city's Olympic gold.</p>

May 31 - The Tyee

Saving Kabul From The Planners?

<p>Scottish adventurer Rory Stewart and the Turquoise Mountain Foundation are striving to preserve and restore the unique qualities of old Kabul as it recovers from decades of war.</p>

May 31 - The Globe and Mail


Finding A Home In The New Atlantis

<p>In the first of his postings for Grist Magazine, author Wayne Curtis sets the watery stage of his new home in New Orleans.</p>

May 30 - Grist

City And School At Odds Over Massive North San Jose Redevelopment Plan

<p>North San Jose's redevelopment plan calls for 32,000 apartments and 7 million sq.ft of industry along the light rail line, but demand for the latter has dropped. Now the school district wants 4 new schools while the city insists only 1 is necessary.</p>

May 30 - San Jose Mercury News


Urban Planner Detained or Missing In Iran

<p>Iran reports that it has "no exact report" about Kian Tajbakhsh, an Iranian-American urban planning professor and consultant who was detained around May 11 and is now missing.</p>

May 30 - San Diego Union Tribute / Associated Press

Baltimore A Magnet For Female Homebuyers

<p>With relatively affordable housing stock and an increasingly desirable urban environment, Baltimore has attracted single female homebuyers at twice the national average.</p>

May 30 - The Baltimore Sun

BLOG POST

Street Beat

<p>4 tools that support community building at the street level.</p><p>Just heard from my co-worker, Chris Haller, who is at Where 2.0 that Google has announced yet another cool tool for visualization. Street View provides panoramic views embedded as an additional view to g-maps. Initially this tool is only available in 5 cities: Denver, Las Vegas, Miami, New York and San Francisco. </p><p>Was able to locate the following YouTube <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91wuBqlny50">demo</a>. Corny video, but cool technology.</p>

May 30 - Ken Snyder

Running A Better Public Meeting

<p>If public participation is a goal, local government should work harder to make public hearings more user-friendly.</p>

May 30 - Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Denver's Transit Plan Fertilizing Neighborhoods For Density

<p>FasTracks, the Denver metro area's plan to add over 100 miles of rail service, is forcing once suburban communities to consider higher density development.</p>

May 30 - The Denver Post

Vancouver To Atlanta: 'Congestion Is Our Friend'

<p>In their annual trip to cities that work better than theirs does, Atlanta leaders visit Vancouver to see first-hand the benefits of density, transit and regional planning.</p>

May 30 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Climate Protection & Land Use: California Begins To Address The Connection

<p>Land use is finally being addressed in California as an intrinsic part of the state's global warming reduction strategy, thanks to passage of the Global Warming Solutions Act and a recent lawsuit by the attorney general against a sprawling county.</p>

May 30 - The San Francisco Chronicle

The Pros And Cons of Gentrification

<p>Policies can create a yin and yang effect in gentrification movements.</p>

May 30 - On Common Ground

Sending Toronto's Mayor To The Chicago School

<p>Toronto, Canada's largest city, could learn a lot by looking at Chicago, writes Margaret Wente.</p>

May 30 - The Globe and Mail

Social Security For 1 Cent A Day

<p>A bill facing parliament in India would provide a broad social security program for nearly 400 million poor workers in India. Some say the $22 billion program will cost too much to sustain.</p>

May 30 - BBC

Carbon Tax Vs. Carbon Trading

<p>L.A. Times editorial compares carbon taxes and carbon trading schemes and argues that carbon taxes are the best way to combat global warming.</p>

May 29 - The Los Angeles Times

BLOG POST

Summer Academics: Finding Faculty Blogs

<p class="MsoNormal">With the coming of summer, students finish courses, faculty head off to do research, and practitioners think about vacations. However, for those interested in keeping up to date with academic issues in planning, a number of bloggists provide useful insights into the politics and hot issues in planning education. For students they are a window into the work of educators and for practicing planners they are an easy way to keep up to date with what’s happening in the schools.</p>

May 29 - Ann Forsyth

The World's First Fleet of Driverless Taxis

<p>Heathrow Airport is set to launch what may be the world's largest trial of a personal rapid transit (PRT) system. The electric "pod cabs" will carry passengers and luggage from a parking area to a new terminal -- a journey of about four minutes.</p>

May 29 - The Times (UK)

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