The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

With California facing a $24.3 billion deficit, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has released a budget that eliminates $70 million in funding for the state's parks system.

June 2 - Yahoo! News

On Thursday, the Department of Buildings of New York City took off a billboard which has blanketed the lower floors of the 19th-century Cushman Building, 174 Broadway, at Maiden Lane for several years.

June 2 - New York Times

A debate over preserving the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City is a question of not just a building, but the historic preservation of an entire model of planning, says Christopher Hawthorne.

June 1 - The Los Angeles Times

<em>PEDALING REVOLUTION: How Cyclists Are Changing American Cities</em> by Jeff Mapes, a political reporter for The Oregonian and long-time bike commuter in Portland, details how cycling and advocacy are changing America's urban landscape.

June 1 - The New York Times - Sunday Book Review

Michael Moore marks the GM bankruptcy by calling for the preservation of its industrial infrastructure in order to build sustainable transportation systems.

June 1 - michaelmoore.com

These videos show images of locations that have seen significant change over the past few years as seen through Google Earth images, from Dubai's manmade archipelago to Utah's disappearing Lake Powell.

June 1 - Wired

Miami, Broward, and Palm Beach counties are unable to sustain their financial contributions to Tri-Rail, so weekend service will end and major cuts made to daily service.

June 1 - The Miami Herald

Sam Staley argues that the increase in property values around transit stations isn't attributable to increased ridership, and in fact the locations with the least investment had the highest ridership.

June 1 - The Business Journal (Fresno)

BLOG POST

<p> On my coveted “Bane of Americana” list just behind my cell phone company&#39;s automated customer support option to “Press &#39;3&#39; To Stay On Hold” (not kidding!), is the so-called “Passenger Pick-Up System” at airport terminals.  Instead of realizing a purported orderly and safe system, by forcing cars to circuit the entire loop road in an attempt to perfectly intercept with arriving passengers, airports are perpetuating a half-brained scheme reminiscent of Disney World&#39;s Mad Tea Party ride. </p> <p> <img src="/files/u20603/madteaparty.jpg" width="448" height="336" /> <br /> <strong>It&#39;s Always Six O&#39;Clock At Terminal Eight!  </strong> </p>

June 1 - Ian Sacs

As the U.S. Green Building Council prepares to give its LEED-AP certification standards a major overhaul, test takers are scrambling to take the exam before it becomes a whole new ballgame.

June 1 - The Architect's Newspaper

Columnist Josh Leon agrees with Richard Florida's assessment that greater mobility would be better for the economy and the creative class, but wonders what will happen to the immobile and un-creative.

June 1 - Next American City

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood is visiting Spain, hoping to glean some knowledge from the country's recent successes with high-speed rail.

June 1 - The New York Time - Energy & Environment

The group tasked with reenergizing Bermondsey Square in southeast London see their target audience as "urban safarians."

June 1 - Building

FEATURE

Josh Stephens reviews two biographies of cities, <em>The Dallas Myth: The Making and Unmaking of An American City</em> and <em>Reno’s Big Gamble: Image and Reputation in the Biggest Little City</em>.

June 1 - Josh Stephens

Kiplinger's picks its 2009 Best Cities list, and in this tough economy decides to put the emphasis on job creation and stability. Number one? Huntsville, Alabama.

June 1 - Kiplinger's

Serenbe is a new master-planned community outside of Atlanta that is creating a new model for placemaking in the U.S., taking its form from English villages and working within the natural environment.

May 31 - AIArchitect

The new Montreal Symphony Hall design is revealed. The architect states, 'We are not building for the ego of the architect, large as it might be.'

May 31 - The Montreal Gazette

Owen Hatherley presents his case for a revival of modernism, particularly in its original intent as a social reform movement, in his new book, Militant Modernism.

May 31 - Icon Eye

Our underused natural gas capacity could almost completely replace our current coal-generated energy, argues Sean Casten, President & CEO of Recycled Energy Development.

May 31 - Grist

Cities across the country are reconsidering tax abatement plans, in the new belief that cities just can't afford them.

May 31 - Next American City