The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Hoare Road, East Breast, and North Piddle are actual place names that get a chuckle out of most people. But when it comes to the more "aesthetically unsuitable" names, feelings are divided.

January 30 - The New York Times

A researcher of weird roadside attractions stumbled onto an unusual clash of land uses - cemeteries wedged into parking lots. Here's a collection of photos.

January 30 - Roadside Resort

Wes Marshall and Norman Garrick, after a study of data from 130,000 car crashes in California, have determined that cities built since since 1950 have more dangerous roads than those built before 1950.

January 30 - New Urban News

Queensland University of Technology Prof. Jeannie Sim says that while density has increased in the city, green spaces have diminished.

January 30 - The Brisbane Times

Less than a year ago, downtown Los Angeles was seen as a rising star, on a path towards becoming a vibrant and humming urban core. But the economic dive has stalled many projects, and they could be stalled for quite a while, according to this column.

January 30 - Los Angeles Magazine

Portland's new Westside Express Service officially opens today, carrying passengers from Beaverton to Wilsonville. The Oregonian calls it, "a punch of hard-rolling rust-and-grease."

January 30 - The Oregonian

An organization in Chicago's Little Village gives tours to educate its Mexican-American residents on how they can improve their notoriously polluted community. Grassroots efforts like this are being lauded by environmental justice groups.

January 30 - Chicago Tribune

A futuristic-looking, carbon-neutral development is rising on the shores of the Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan, featuring residential buidlings designed to mimic the country's famous Seven Peaks.

January 30 - Loudreams

Cities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area are working together to save water and use reclaimed water for non-drinking purposes.

January 30 - Fort Worth Star Telegram

Traffic is a nightmare in Cali, Colombia, the Latin American country's third-largest city. But a massive redesign is taking place, with German transit efficiency guiding the way.

January 30 - Der Spiegel

Urban development needs to be re-considered as urban redevelopment, according to this column from <em>MinnPost</em>.

January 29 - MinnPost

County sheriff’s deputies seek to cut inmate transportation costs by utilizing the Metro Light Rail. Passenger safety concerns have obviously been raised.

January 29 - The Arizona Republic

The Department of the Interior is alleged to have generated electric energy by limiting water flow to the Grand Canyon, at the expense of the landmarks' ecology--despite having access to scientific findings that warned against doing so.

January 29 - The Washington Post

A nonprofit organization is promoting the idea of closing Manhattan's 42nd St. to traffic and putting in a 2.5 mile street level light rail line.

January 29 - The New York Times

Global warming has slipped precipitously in the public's mind as a top concern, as the nation's recession took the number one slot in a Pew Research Center telephone poll. In fact, it ranked last in a list of 20 issues, yet 'energy' was #6.

January 29 - The New York Times

A little-known USDA program offers Rural Development Guaranteed Loans, which would allow low-income residents to buy homes in "rural" areas--places with fewer than 25,000 people. Under this guideline, many suburbs in Phoenix qualify.

January 29 - NPR

Congress is expected to offer up to $16 million of stimulus money to the state of Idaho for transportation projects. But in the Treasure Valley -- home to Boise and a third of the state's population -- there aren't any projects that are ready to go.

January 29 - The Idaho Statesman

The American Society of Civil Engineers has released their 2009 report card on America's infrastructure. Its GPA is equivalent to a D.

January 29 - Report Card for America's Infrastructure

The rock after which Little Rock, AR is named will be excavated to cap off the revitalization of the city's riverfront. No one knows how much of the rock, estimated to be 300 million years old, is left, which raises the question: Is it worth it?

January 29 - The Wall Street Journal

Plans for a new bridge over the Columbia River in Oregon have local officials in a debate over lanes, tolls and sprawl.

January 29 - The Oregonian