The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

The rate of workers who commute by bike continues to increase, but it reflects a decidedly white demographic, specifically men. The Washington Post examines biking through the lens of race and gender.

July 11 - The Washington Post

George Skelton of The Los Angeles Times contends that one of Schwarzenegger's biggest blunders as governor of California was lowering the vehicle license fee to 0.65%.

July 11 - The Los Angeles Times

Scheduled to open in two months on the day after the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, project architect Michael Arad and landscape architect Peter Walker discuss their masterpiece.

July 11 - The Wall Street Journal

FEATURE

Jay Walljasper argues that the era of specialized, Spandex-clad bicyclists dominating the road is coming to an end - the future is in normal folk taking to the road and taking advantage of the numerous benefits to society that comes from bicycling.

July 11 - Jay Walljasper

Airlines argue in the European Court of Justice that the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is an overreach when imposed on flights to/from Europe.

July 11 - The Economist

U. of Toronto economist Matthew Turner discusses his study that shows that building more traffic lanes attracts more traffic. Likewise, providing more transit may lure motorists out of their cars, but those motorists are replaced.

July 11 - NPR:All Things Considered

Hong Kong and Singapore experienced a double-digit growth in the housing market. And so did Ireland - albeit in the opposite direction. In the U.S., prices dropped about 5% from last year. What gives?

July 11 - The Economist

A graduate class in San Jose State's urban planning program surveyed parking lots at 12 housing developments by rail stations in Santa Clara County to see how well utilized they were and offer recommendations on parking codes.

July 11 - Northern News-California APA

Through a combination of local food initiatives and the installation of a new high-speed fiber optic network, the city of Chattanooga is hoping to continue its trend of recovering from years of industrial decline.

July 11 - Citiwire

Making urban data available is important, but not as important as presenting that data in a digestible way, according to this piece from <em>Change Observer</em>.

July 10 - Change Observer

Construction is underway to prepare the Russian resort city of Sochi for its hosting of the 2014 Winter Olympics. But it's not just venues for the games that are being built.

July 10 - The Voice of Russia

OF the many written works about Los Angeles, Mike Davis' "City of Quartz" stands out, according to this review by <em>Los Angeles Times</em> architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne.

July 10 - Los Angeles Times

Utopian developments often fail. This post from <em>The Awl</em> ranks the best and most desirable of the failed utopias throughout history.

July 10 - The Awl

The emergent urbanism of informal settlements has posed problems to governments in the Third World, and some are looking to address equality issues by issuing land titles. But one approach skips the titles and focuses on simple zoning.

July 10 - Old Urbanist

New parks -- even very small ones -- can have a major impact on the way cities and communities are revitalized, according to this post.

July 9 - Planet Forward

A new study from the nonprofit research center Good Jobs First looks into how relocation tax breaks for businesses have encouraged sprawl in the Cleveland and Cincinnati metropolitan areas.

July 9 - Crain's Cleveland Business

This post from <em>The Urbanophile</em> highlights some of the best videos focused on cities.

July 9 - The Urbanophile

In a new book, author Iain Sinclair argues against the Olympic redevelopment of London's East End, and argues that the legacy goals its planners are pushing largely already exist.

July 9 - Metro

The well-heeled foundation that's been pumping money into civic projects in Detroit is now reconsidering the role it's playing and how much it wants to contribute.

July 9 - The Wall Street Journal

The Manufacturer's Hanover Trust Company building of New York from 1953 has been the focus of much debate over the right way to preserve an historically significant building.

July 8 - Metropolis Magazine