The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

The EPA announces new emissions standards for power plants that will "improve air quality for 240 million Americans living in states where the pollution is produced or where it travels downwind."

July 8 - The New York Times

A new report indicates that the average rent went up while vacancy rate fell in the second quarter of this year. Based on the data from 82 markets around the country, San Jose, California experienced the highest rent increase.

July 8 - The Wall Street Journal

A proposal to cut transportation funding by chairman of the House transportation committee John Mica (R-Fla.) received wide criticism from the Democrat counterpart.

July 8 - The Washington Post

Leading urban thinkers weigh-in on a debate of the merits of European and US approaches to urban planning, with a specific focus on the place of automobiles in cities. Ed Glaeser, Ellen Dunham-Jones, and Sam Staley are among the contributors.

July 8 - The New York Times

California Report previews 25 miles of new express or high occupancy toll lanes coming to LA as a pilot project paid from the competitive value pricing grant program under President Bush. The lanes currently are reserved for high occupancy vehicles

July 8 - The California Report

Developers in Sweden plan to use the several aquifers already located underneath Stockholm's streets to heat and cool the buildings located above them.

July 8 - This Big City

At a town hall meeting this week, President Obama proposed a new initiative that would give unemployed homeowners more wiggle room on their late mortgage payments.

July 8 - The Washington Post

As anemic budget becomes a new reality rather than a mere interlude, cities like Atlanta, Houston, and Sacramento close down pools to cut back expenses. School-age children with downtime in the summer suffer most.

July 8 - The New York Times

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) says that the US economy could lose up to 600,000 jobs if a transportation reauthorization bill is not passed by September 30.

July 8 - Streetsblog

Shutting down the Interstate 405 corridor for two days on July 16 and 17 is akin to clipping L.A.'s mobility wings. Commuters and residents in the region are making contingency plans to circumvent heavy traffic congestion next weekend.

July 7 - The New York Times

A post at <em>Fast Company</em> describes the House in the Outskirts of Brussels as business in front and a party in back. (SEE IMAGES).

July 7 - Fast Company

A discrimination lawsuit filed against the federal government and the state of Louisiana was settled this week in favor of homeowners who claimed that the way funds were distributed was biased against the poor.

July 7 - The New York Times

BLOG POST

<p> <em>&quot;The secret of Disney is doing things you don&#39;t need, and doing them well, and realizing that you needed them all along...Walt Disney was ahead of everyone, always.&quot;</em> </p> <p> <em>-Isaac Asimov, interviewed by Leonard Maltin<br /> </em> </p>

July 7 - Tim Halbur

The legacy of Los Angeles murals has all but left the city, buried under sign ordinances, billboard policy and tagging. Tanner Blackman in the Dept. of City Planning Code Studies Section is working to free up the knot of regulation.

July 7 - KCET

As the downturn in the market physically reshapes the metropolitan regions of the United States, the shifting populations and economies of its cities and suburban areas are becoming increasingly intertwined.

July 7 - The Atlantic

A draft report from San Diego reveals that California's SB 375 law, which passed in 2008, was ineffective in reducing sprawl in the long term, Ethan Elkind writes for the UCLA UC Berkeley Legal Planet blog.

July 7 - Legal Planet

FEATURE

Can a city be driven by the noble goals of democracy, diversity, and equity? Harvard professor Susan Fainstein thinks so, and outlines how in her new book, <em>The Just City.</em> Victor Negrete has a review.

July 7 - Victor Negrete

The projects across the country having the biggest impact on the feel and function of cities are more often than not the work of landscape architects, according to the American Society of Landscape Architects.

July 7 - THE DIRT

Young creative people are moving to Detroit, launching new businesses and civic ventures that are creating a new identity for a city plagued by associations with decline.

July 7 - The New York Times

Cargo bikes, tandems and even ice cream bikes - this photo-essay highlights the great variety of bicycles being used in Amsterdam. Charles Siegel hopes the pictures will get Americans over their timidness when it comes to practical bicycling.

July 7 - Preservation Institute Blog