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The Fall of Las Vegas
Planetizen - Urban Planning, Design and Development Network
In 2006, Las Vegas was one of the fastest growing cities in the country. Today, that booming metropolis is crumbling and can’t maintain its infrastructure. A new documentary from Current.tv takes a look at Sin City today.
Star Trek - worth full price?
Cyburbia - urban planning community -
I am thinking of catching this movie tonight while the Dallas Mavericks are losing Game 4.
Anyone else seen it already? What’s your recommendation - see it now, or wait for a matinee?
Anyone else seen it already? What’s your recommendation - see it now, or wait for a matinee?
Walking, Talking, and Remembering Jane Jacobs
Planetizen - Urban Planning, Design and Development Network
Jane’s Walk is a fledgling yearly festival following in Jacobs’ esteemed footsteps. Participants in cities around the world like Winnepeg take people on walking tours of their neighborhoods, illuminating their local urbanism.
AICP appeal process
Cyburbia - urban planning community -
I appealed my May 2009 application denial, so that I can take the test in November. Does anyone know how long the appeal process takes? Thanks!
Electricity from Biomass More Efficient than Ethanol
Planetizen - Urban Planning, Design and Development Network
A new study by researchers at the University of California, Merced suggests that using biomass to create electricity to power cars could be more efficient than using the same biomass to create ethanol to power cars.
Shortchanged, WES Stalls Again, The T Driver t-bones Riders in Boston
From TriMet, “Due to mechanical problems with one WES train, several trips this morning are being served by shuttle bus. The 7:49 a.m. trip north from Wilsonville and the 6:56 a.m. and 8:26 a.m. trips south from BTC will be served by bus. Buses will stop at all WES stations. Riders should plan to add 10 to 20 minutes to their commute.”
We have crap trains (it seems to be turning out) and Boston has crap drivers txting away. It appears there needs to be some serious enforcement over phone usage while driving. I still see it done by TriMet bus drivers here in Portland. I haven't however seen a MAX operator doing it fortunately. We already have the dozens dead on the commuter rail incident last year in California and we still have idiots running around as if it wouldn't happen to them. I hope these occurrences don't increase.
Seriously though, I hate that transit agencies are made to have their own police to fight crime, it isn’t their job. But hiring the appropriate personnel that will do their job and not be complete idiots as this driver was IS the agencies and authorities jobs!
Build Smarter: Learning from the Housing Bust
Planetizen - Urban Planning, Design and Development Network
Builder Magazine presents six lessons for builders to learn from the housing bust, including ‘limit your land holdings’, ‘build smarter’, and ‘diversify beyond new-home construction’.
Car is #1 Necessity, Say Americans
Planetizen - Urban Planning, Design and Development Network
A new study from the Pew Research Center says that even though Americans are driving less, they still see a car as the most necessary item they own. Air conditioning and TV are a good 10% less necessary.
Cultivating a Tradition of Placemaking with the Garden Club of America
http://www2.pps.org/rss-support/images/openacs_logo_rss.gif Places In the News
On May 2nd Fred Kent gave the opening keynote to 700 leaders of Garden Clubs from every corner of the United States. The message resonated as a natural evolution for their powerful role in communities, leveraging their skills as practical implementers, social networkers and resourceful fundraisers. The local garden club is often the first partner mentioned at our workshops to help implement short term improvements. We will now look to Garden Clubs to play a leading role as conveners and facilitators of Placemaking in their communities.
To offer them a tool to support this potential role, PPS lead 200 of the conference attendees in an afternoon “Place Game” workshop to train them to use the tool to evaluate public spaces and kick start placemaking projects. We were aided in facilitating the large crowd by 20 local partners involved in our Kennedy Plaza effort that saw the workshop as a good opportunity to get fresh ideas from the Garden Club members.
Greater Kennedy Plaza Placemaking May 2, 2009 from Russell Preston on Vimeo.
The video was also posted on CNU New England’s Sustainable Urbanism Summit blog, where blogger Russell Preston says:
A critical piece of creating a sustainable urbanism is pleasing and vibrant Public Space. As we move towards a more resilient way of planning for our villages, towns and cities, as Fred Kent says, we can no longer afford to only create “open space”. Our land is too valuable to not be used, be programmed and be enjoyed.
The Neuroscience of Architecture
Planetizen - Urban Planning, Design and Development Network
Recent studies in neuroscience show that the design of the built environment affects the way you feel and your behavior. New brain scan technology is revealing emotional reactions to color choice, rounded corners, and ceiling height.
