November 2009
120 posts
A Little Green Goes A Long Way →
St. Louis’ Citygarden Sculpture Park is already being compared to NYC’s High Line for its success in revitalizing a previously unused parcel of land.
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Victory for Katrina Homeowners →
A judge rules in favor of plaintiffs who lost their homes to Hurricane Katrina in a case against the Army Corps of Engineers, saying they failed to properly maintain a navigation channel.
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Cycling: It's About Individualism? →
In this op-ed, Verlyn Klinkenborg posits that cycling, at least on the Stanford campus, is more about asserting one’s identity than anything else.
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Huge San Francisco Redevelopment Project Underway →
It’s the largest redevelopment project since the great earthquake of 1906: 702 acres, 10,500 residential units, a shipyard brownfield cleanup, and a new stadium (hopefully) for the 49ers. The…
The Problem With Thinking Regionally →
Carol Coletta is a believer in the new emphasis in regional government, but worries that it may be at the expense of the local.
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Autistic Kids Love SketchUp →
SketchUp isn’t just for urban designers- it turns out that it makes perfect sense to autistic children, giving them a tool that taps their skill at visual communication.
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Unanimity Over Density in Vancouver →
The Vancouver City Council voted unanimously to approve the creation of a new high-density, mixed-use community on land left over from Expo 86.
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Rethinking Sixty Years of Sprawl →
There’s no looking back now in the shift away from suburbs to a more sustainable urban model, writes Andre Shashaty, president of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities.
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More Passengers And Less Funding Threaten To... →
The recession has made many commuters more transit-dependent while shrinking the public coffers that may for the bulk of transit service. Without further subsidies, agencies face tough choices…
The "Nightmare" of Hebron →
Sarah Lazare and Clare Bayard visit Israeli-controlled Hebron and find the city marred by barbed wire, barriers and homes and shops sealed with concrete and metal.
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Buffett and Beyond →
This article takes a look at the past and future of rail in America, with an emphasis on one surprise success story.
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The Park Prescription →
One doctor has begun advising her patients to simply take a walk in the park to improve their overall health. And as she describes in this article, she’s not alone.
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Small Cities Struggle Through Recession →
Smaller cities are showing signs of struggle, as the amount of college-educated residents continues to drop. Coupled with the economic recession, smaller cities seems to be taking a harder economic…
Suburban Utopias? →
This article from the Guardian argues that despite years of derision, suburbia is gaining a more positive reputation as “utopia in a big way”.
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Large Homebuilders Handed Millions in Tax Breaks →
Large homebuilders, including Pulte Homes and Hovnanian Enterprises, will recieve hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars under the recently passed Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act…
LA, Orange Counties Collide on Freeways →
As traffic congestion has worsened, so has the philosophical divide between LA and Orange counties in terms of how to address it.
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Iraq, Tourist Destination? →
With its rich history and wealth of artifacts, palaces, and natural beauty, some wonder if tourism could help Iraq to recover.
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LA's Newest Rail Meets Skepticism →
The Gold Line extension served 75,000 riders for its grand opening, but ridership dropped by over two-thirds for its first weekday operations.
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Mapping: Not Just For Geographers Anymore →
Citizen volunteers are democratizing the field of online mapping, spreading out to document neighborhoods and streets worldwide.
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England's Most Dreadful Railway Stations →
As Transport Secretary Lord Adonis tours railway stations most in need of help, the BBC News Magazine asks, “what makes a bad railway station?”
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Architecture From Algae →
UCLA’s cityLAB sponsored a competition to envision new ways public works projects could be used to improve the country’s infrastructure. The winning idea: algae-based urban parks connecting…
Whither American Infrastructure? →
Bob Herbert wonders why the United States appears to have forgotten about the importance of its built infrastructure, and imagines what the future could hold.
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Small Town Relents in Epic Airport Battle →
Bensenville, Illinois has been fighting an O’Hare airport expansion tooth and nail for decades. A new mayor signaled a change of heart (and a $16 million settlement).
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Is Starchitecture Over? →
The Nottingham Contemporary, a stark new museum building in London, exhibits none of the architectural excess of the past several years in contemporary architecture, says critic Tom Dyckhoff.
Minneapolis-St. Paul Residents Get A New Commute →
$320 million dollars and 13 years after construction began, the Northstar commuter rail began running today between Big Lake and Minneapolis.
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A Look Back at the Urban Impact of Miami Mayor... →
As termed-out Mayor Manny Diaz leaves office in Miami, The Miami Herald’s Andres Viglucci takes a look back at the impact Diaz had on the city’s growth.
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Transit Expansion is Streetlife Expansion in L.A. →
An extension of one of L.A.’s light rail lines opened this past weekend. Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne offers a hopeful prediction that the extension will inspire an…
The Most Musical Cities in North America →
This chart from the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto looks at North America’s musical epicenters — cities where the most music is produced.
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The Remarkable Rezoning of NYC →
Recently the NYC Planning Dept. announced its 100th rezoning since Bloomberg took office. This article takes a spin through the city’s remarkable shift in the last 50 years away from industry to…
Extreme Makeover Makeover in Buffalo →
The planning staff of Buffalo, NY lobbied ABC to bring their program Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to Buffalo - and change their suburban standards to New Urbanist ones.
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Penalosa Critical of Gujarat BRT →
Enrique Penalosa, famed as the “Father of Bus Rapid Transit,” pays a visit to the Ahmedabad BRTS in Gujarat, India. Penalosa was positive, but doesn’t think it goes far enough to catering to…
Fed Seeks More Control Over Transit Safety →
In light of recent transit accidents, especially the Red Line crash in Washington, DC suburbs, the Obama Administration is seeking legislation to set and enforce safety standards on transit systems…
VMT Fee May Replace Car Taxes In Netherlands →
Imagine this: Replacing the sales tax on purchasing a new vehicle and annual, ‘fixed’ fees with a VMT fee based on size, weight, and CO2 emissions of the vehicle. This is the plan of the Dutch…
Faring Well →
Wealthier transit riders demand more expensive rail services and commute at peak hours; the poor commute using all modes, at all hours. Eric A. Morris argues that the MTA’s new policy of off-peak…
Light From Garbage →
A new concept streetlight from Yanko Design would use garbage cans built into the base as fuel tanks, converting the trash to light.
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Cities With the Shortest Commutes →
U.S. News and World Report selects “15 Cities for People Who Hate Driving and Long Commutes,” choosing the cities with shorter than average commuting times and high percentages of non-auto…
All Eggs in the HSR Basket →
California Governor Schwarzenegger has ordered state officials to seek federal funding only for the state’s high-speed rail project—at the expense of efforts to make Metrolink trains safer, some…
US, Canada and Mexico Collaborate on Wilderness... →
A new agreement signed this week by all three governments creates an international committee to collaborate on wilderness management.
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Mixed-Use, V.2: Big Box Living →
The Rise, a new mixed-use development in Vancouver, includes 1,500 condos, sushi restaurants, art galleries - and a Home Depot.
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Reconsidering the McMansion Business →
Builders John Wieland Homes & Neighborhoods, hit hard by the downturn, is meeting consumer price points by creating compact home designs instead of the 4,700 sq. ft. homes that were their bread and…
Jaywalking Not As Big A Safety Issue As Assumed →
Over the past 15 years, more than 76,000 pedestrians have been killed in the U.S. Some say preventing a significant portion of these deaths is as simple as enforcing jaywalking laws. Not so, argues…
Walking the Green Streets of Portland →
Matthew Roth of Streetsblog SF takes a tour of Portland’s impressive green streets program from landscape architect David Elkin. Stormwater runoff is a major component of the program, as are new…
Inspiration for Kelo Case Leaves Town →
Drugmaker Pfizer has announced plans to move offices and 1,400 employees out of New London, Connecticut, where it had ignited a heated debate over eminent domain that spawned the landmark Kelo v….
Turning Old Auto Plants Into Gold →
Norwood, Ohio lost 22,000 jobs and gained an empty industrial site back in 1987 when GM left town. “In the long run, it was the best thing that ever happened,” says Mayor Tom Williams.
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Much-Needed Water in Nevada is Radioactive →
Over forty years, the federal government exploded almost a thousand nuclear warheads under the Nevada desert. Radiation leeched into the aquifers, in a region with a growing population and a water…
Mapping the Hard to Count →
Undercounting is likely one of the biggest challenges facing the U.S. Census Bureau as it prepares to run its decennial census in April. Certain parts of the country will prove problematic when it…
Will Retail Come Back in 2010? →
Experts believe that financing for retail projects may begin flowing early next year, but are concerned that the pool of recipients may be limited, and projects may be conventional.
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London Mayor Versus Aggressive Cyclists →
London Mayor Boris Johnson, an avid cyclist himself, is calling on local law enforcement to crack down on the city’s aggressive cyclists who he says are making it less safe to bike.
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New London, Four Years After Kelo →
The 2005 Supreme Court decision on Kelo v. New London was a landmark in eminent domain law, paving the way for Pfizer to develop there. Four years later, Pfizer is pulling up stakes.
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Blakely Blasts New Orleans Recovery Process →
A video interview with Ed Blakely, former New Orleans recovery czar, reveals some tensions with the city, its officials, and its people that hindered the recovery process.
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