The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Illegal apartments present a quandary for the city of New York: they increase the danger of fire, but also provide needed shelter that couldn't be found elsewhere. Some experts think a path to legalization could work.

November 8 - City Limits

Attach a digital camera to a balloon or kite, and what do you get? An easy tool for public participation in land use decisions, says Eymund Diegel of the Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science.

November 8 - The Mobile City

A UC Berkeley traffic study shows dramatic reductions in travel time for all Bay Bridge traffic after tolls were restructured July, 2010, applying the region's first congestion charge and charging half price for carpools, ending their free passage.

November 7 - San Francisco Chronicle

In the thick of the campaign, the American Institute of Architects invited the eleven major candidates for mayor of San Francisco to debate their respective visions for the City by the Bay.

November 7 - The Examiner

Elizabeth Currid-Halkett examins the viability of arts driven urban revitalization and finds that the strongest predictor of success is the nature of the art being produced and exhibited in the neighborhood.

November 7 - The New York Times

FEATURE

November 7 - Tim Halbur

A return to community focused development is changing the design of neighborhoods across the country. Leon Kaye explains how the Mountain View Co-Housing's 19 new condos could provide a model for other cities.

November 7 - The Guardian

Witold Rybczynski crams a lot of insight into a very brief blog post on the issues of "playground cities" such as New Orleans that attract tourists and are flooded with vacation homes.

November 7 - Witold Rybczynski's blog

Last week, Boulder, Colorado voters approved the idea of firing their power company in favor of generating their own.

November 7 - GOOD Magazine

Revitalization has come to East Harlem, but a number of apartment buildings are left vacant by their owners until they can be turned over or the market recovers enough for higher rents.

November 7 - The New York Times

The Orlando Sentinel talks with Bill Warren, city manager of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which is a semi-autonomous government that runs the land under Disney World.

November 7 - The Orlando Sentinel

The new $98 billion price tag and 2033 completion date in the revised HSR Authority's business plan applies to the first phase, meaning that the extensions to San Diego and Sacramento will take even longer, leaving some San Diegan leaders seething.

November 7 - AP via The Sacramento Bee

A recent Urban Land Institute panel discusses where real estate is headed, based on the publication 'What's Ahead for Real Estate Through 2020'. From Baby Boomers to Gen-Y, demand is changing, and developers are beginning to tune in.

November 6 - The Planning Report

Politico recaps the findings of the two federal commissions authorized by the last transportation bill. While their findings are not hopeful, they do present a better outlook for a change 'down the road' - perhaps in a future authorization bill.

November 6 - Politico

A new Brookings Institution report shows that places of concentrated poverty are getting worse due to unsustained growth nationwide and the suburbanization of poverty. Authors Elizabeth Kneebone and Alan Berube expound on the findings.

November 6 - The Atlantic Cities

As the world continues to urbanize and megacities continue to grow, cities are increasingly "unrecognizable," no longer necessarily, say, places of political power. David Pillings repots on this and other issues challenging the traditional city.

November 6 - Financial Times

With its revised business plan released Nov. 1 showing a dramatic increase in costs and time to build the 800 mile system, the Authority adopted its funding plan to a largely skeptical audience, many from the Central Valley where construction begins.

November 5 - Los Angeles Times

Grist profiles a British street artist who specializes in creating images on dirty urban spaces (like tunnel walls) by simply washing away the grime.

November 5 - Grist

Nate Berg introduces us to a branch of astrophysicists hoping to utilize new telescope technology to locate potential alien cities on distant planets.

November 5 - The Atlantic

While the rest of the city's waterfronts are to be developed as public promenades, much of Brooklyn wants to retain its previous industrial uses. Liana Grey reports.

November 5 - Real Estate Weeky