The latest in urban planning, placemaking and citizen action:

- The Toronto Public Space Committee advocates for the corner of one of the city’s busiest intersections to be turned into a public plaza [The Star.com]

- Meg Walker and Cynthia Nikitin take part in helping the Bayshore community envision their cultural district [Naples News]

- This summer, Paul Kronenberg rode every inch of New York City’s bike paths [City Room]

- America’s 10 best places to grow up, according to US News and World Report [USnews.com]

- The Northhampton Agricultural Commission establishes a farmers market committee in response to the rapidly growing number of markets in the area [Gazettenet.com]

- A bus stop swing makes waiting just a little more fun [Dvice]

The latest in urban planning, placemaking and citizen action:

- Massachusetts is going to make its transportation data available to software developers in an effort to make the state’s transportation system more user-friendly [Washington Examiner]

- Houston’s City Council takes steps to create walkable places near light rail stops [Chron.com]

- LA celebrates 30 years of Farmers Markets [LAist]

- Central Florida small towns cope with high-speed roads running through their downtowns [Orlando Sentinel]

- Kids lead the way on making a swimming pool the centerpiece of a planned park in Irrigon, OR [East Oregonian]

- More food for thought in the private-influence-in-public-space conversation, focusing on advertising [Infrastructurist]

- Sand in the City in Olympia, WA brings beach fun to the center of the city [The News Tribune]

- Chicagoans, be sure to vote for your favorite place in the city in Placemaking Chiacgo’s “What Makes Your Place Great?” contest [Placemaking Chicago]

- A look at downtown Cheyenne, WY and the role of the local Downtown Development Authority in its recent development [WyomingNews.com]

The latest in urban planning, placemaking and citizen action:

- Culturally booming downtown LA celebrates with its own film festival [MovieMaker]

- A Washington, DC bike-parking center could help increase safety for bike commuters [Washington Post]

- Johannesburg prepares to open its BRT offering free rides [News24]

- In Kansas City, local parks reap the benefits of robust public-private partnerships [MidwestVoices]

- A new public plaza in Seoul experiences growing pains [Korea Herald]

- NYC’s Dept. of Buildings is hosting a competition to rethink construction scaffolding, potentially having a huge impact on how New Yorkers experience sidewalks and streets [City Room]

- Speakers at a transportation seminar in Jakarta advocate for understanding roads as public space and increasing public transportation options in the city [Jakarta Post]

- Are you living in one of the top US cities for saving money through public transit? [Examiner.com]

- A study highlights the popularity of smoking bans in public spaces [PostStar]

- Good is holding a competition to redesign your farmers market [Good]

The latest in urban planning, placemaking and citizen action:

- A Blue Movement: New York City residents fight for meaningful community input in waterfront projects [Gotham Gazette]

- A proposed Willamette River bridge could alleviate tensions between cyclists and pedestrians [OregonLive]

- Winners in the America’s Favorite Farmers Market competition are announced [Drovers]

- One traffic cop knows how to have a good time while she’s on the job [NY Daily News]

- Collier County community members are undertaking an expansive project to rethink the potential of their community [NaplesNews]

- A recently approved Hudson River Park development will use shipping containers for materials and focus on renting retail space to local artists [ArchDaily]

- New York City kicked off another successful season of Summer Streets events [Streetsblog]

- The top 20 finalists are announced in Inhabitat’s Reurbia competition [Inhabitat]

The latest in urban planning, placemaking, and citizen action:

• Embracing impermanence: flexible use of shared space creates a vibrant environment. [Worldchanging]
• Five great ideas for cheap downtown revitalization. [Metromode]
• Public transit innovation in Istanbul. [Daily Kos]
• Kalamazoo’s “retail incubator” program aims to hatch new businesses in revitalizing downtowns. [MLive.com]
• Study: 1 big box store = 6.6% increased risk of car crashes. [The City Fix]
• Chicago passes the nation’s first “green food resolution.” [Huffington Post]
• Water fountains in public parks are good for health and the environment. [The Guardian]
• Enter APTA’s video contest and win a free year of public transportation! [APTA]
• Finding consistency in “traces” left by spontaneous urban footpaths. [Moscow Times]

The latest in urban planning, placemaking, and citizen action:

• Does “right-sizing” have the potential to solve Detroit’s problems? [Detroit Free Press]
• Dumpster diving: in Brooklyn, garbage bins are repurposed as swimming pools. [New York Times]
• The public-health argument for walkable and bike-able communities. [Citiwire]
• Study: public transportation saves Americans 646 million hours per year! [Planetsave]
• In San Francisco, a new web-based tool to connect local food to buyers. [Civil Eats]
• Federal transportation funds favor new projects, while existing public transit is forced to cut corners. [The Nation]
• States make strides to integrate food stamps and farmers’ markets. [New York Times]
• In Minneapolis, downtown “ambassadors” keep streets clean, safe, and friendly. [Minneapolis Star-Tribune]
• Advocates in California mourn the “death of transit.” [Streetsblog SF]

The latest in urban planning, placemaking, and citizen action:

• Making Abu Dhabi’s streets safer for pedestrians. [The National]
• New Urbanism and adaptive reuse take hold in Nashville’s Gulch neighborhood. [New York Times]
• What sort of planning makes for interesting walks?  Conor Friedersdorf argues against tranquility and for chaos: or as Holly Whyte would say, “What attracts people most … is other people.” [The Atlantic]
• Bus rapid transit in Bogota eases traffic and reduces emissions: can other cities do the same? [New York Times]
• In Chicagoland, African-American churches nourish body and soul with farmers’ markets. [Chicago Tribune]
• In Seoul and Yonkers, “daylighting” waterways creates great places (and has environmental benefits). [New York Times]
• President Obama and DOT Secretary LaHood on federal urban policy. [Streetsblog LA]
• NYC pays tribute to Jane Jacobs’s original sidewalk. [New York Times]
• Clean, well-maintained parks are a win-win situation. [Marietta Times]

The latest in urban planning, placemaking, and citizen action:

• In praise of spontaneous expression: New Geography on Orlando’s street performer ban. [New Geography]
• The cure for ”cul-de-sac syndrome” involves walkable neighborhoods and planning around transit. [Huffington Post]
• Placemaking for snakes!  Seattle’s Jose Rizal Park boasts a new public herpetarium. [Seattle Times]
• Sonic art to soothe transit passengers at 96th Street MTA station. [New York Times]
• Colin Ellard on getting lost, and finding our way. [Boston Globe]
• Could Detroit be the first urban cycling utopia? [New York Times]
• Driving a car into lower Manhattan costs $160 in negative externalities! [Reuters Felix Salmon Blog]
• The importance of public art and placemaking for the future of Jackson Hole. [Examiner]
• Meet Will Allen, pioneer of inner-city farming. [New York Times]
• Mayor Bloomberg talks with Charlie Rose about NYC’s Green Initiative. [Charlie Rose]
• Community and business thrive on Curitiba’s car-free streets. [Streetsblog]

The latest in urban planning, placemaking, and citizen action:

• What causes the gender gap in urban cycling? [New York Times]
• Suburban farming’s revival outside Washington, DC. [Washington Post]
• Less than 1 percent (!!!) of transportation stimulus funds are being spent on public transportation projects. [Wall Street Journal]
• Chicago strives to turn its riverfront into a great public space. [Chicago Tribune]
• World Bank aims to create ecologically and economically sustainable cities for the next century. [World Bank]
• Focusing on urban parks to revive low-income communities. [NRPA]
• Plans begin for Park(ing) Day LA — September 18! [CityWatchLA] 
• Planning global cities: challenges stemming from the worldwide urban migration. [The National (UAE)]
• Conservative arguments for public transportation. [Infrastructurist]

The latest in urban planning, placemaking, and citizen action:

• A gallery of gorgeous train stations of the past, together with their less-than-gorgeous replacements. [Infrastructurist]
• Can neighborhood gardens build community in Cabrini Green? [ChicagoNow]
• Small cities in British Columbia work to transform lifeless downtowns into vibrant places. [The Tyee]
• Controversy over private festivals being held in Indianapolis’s public parks. [Indianapolis Star]
• Proposed House transportation bill includes billions for public transit and high-speed rail, but lacks specific pollution targets. [SustainableBusiness.com]
• MTA markets naming rights to NYC subway stations. [New York Times]
• Transportation Secretary LaHood says USDOT is in a “transformational” moment, advocates livable communities. [TreeHugger]
• Google tricycle captures “street views” of pedestrian-only parks and campuses. [Washington Post]