The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

This piece from Robert E. Lang and Lawrence Levy calls for President Barack Obama to include suburban voices in his administration's policy discussions about urban issues.

March 23 - Citiwire

A new master plan for New Orleans has been released. Controversy is expected on the highly anticipated plan as public input is gathered.

March 23 - New Orleans Times Picayune

Owners of second homes are leaning harder on these properties to bring in income, but are finding the market for vacation rentals more complicated than it used to be.

March 23 - The New York Times

FEATURE

March 23 - Roberta Brandes Gratz

Smart rates that reflect the variability of energy demand will be an essential aspect of smart electricity grid, according to experts. To get there, states will have to make some changes.

March 22 - Stateline

Andrés Duany observes that American planners and architects are misunderstanding New Orleans by thinking of it as an American city rather than a Caribbean one.

March 22 - New Geography

As Baby Boomers reach retirement age in Canada, nearly one out of five in the country will be retired within a decade. This coming retirement boom is already affecting the housing market, which many expect to change dramatically.

March 22 - The National Post

A new comprehensive plan being released in Raleigh has many -- both in and out of the city -- wondering what's the best way to grow in the post-sprawl world.

March 22 - Raleigh Durham Independent Weekly

Neal Peirce looks at the daunting challenges facing the new White House Office of Urban Affairs.

March 22 - Citiwire

Flashy plans to build a green city on an island near Shanghai have yet to take any shape. The Chinese government claims the project is still on its way.

March 21 - The Economist

Light rail developers in Utah are cutting costs and timelines with a new and unlikely track base: foam.

March 21 - KSL

Planetizen blogger Rob Goodspeed looks back to America's past to find examples of effective national planning that could be applied today.

March 21 - The Goodspeed Update

The market for recyclables has taken a sharp nosedive in recent months, challenging cities' ability to provide recycling services.

March 21 - CNN

A new British documentary looks back from the year 2055 to show how humanity gradually destroyed the planet.

March 21 - AlterNet

Between the spike in gas prices in 2008 and the current recession, the RV industry is in serious trouble as the market for enormous homes on wheels dries up.

March 20 - Salon.com

Regional Plan Association of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut has mapped out the impact of all MTA's service cuts for every State Assembly and Senate district in the region. There's also an interactive Google Map.

March 20 - Regional Plan Association

In a discussion about how graveyards fit into new forms of urbanism, James Howard Kunstler predicts that city planning departments are not long for this world.

March 20 - Whistling Past the Graveyard

Robin Hood Gardens is a 70s era, Brutalist public housing complex. Preservationists say it is historic; the government wants to tear it down. Reporter Nicolai Ouroussoff pays the project a visit to determine for himself.

March 20 - The New York Times

BLOG POST

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman">The planning profession’s ambivalence toward Houston has always been a little frustrating. In part, the profession’s attitude is understandable. Houston hasn’t embraced planning’s conventions, so why should the profession embrace Houston? </span> </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman">Fair enough. But the downside is losing the opportunity to look at core issues and problems from a completely different lens. This is especially true when it comes to housing development where Houston performs remarkably better than its peers.</span> </p>

March 20 - Samuel Staley

Renters are the hidden victims of the foreclosure crisis: they are usually the last to know about foreclosure, have few resources to assist them and are being overlooked by federal interventions. But community organizers are fighting back.

March 20 - Dollars and Sense