The CEO of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority details the feast or famine of transportation planning in Southern California in 2010: budgets are being slashed while a new sales tax and federal stimulus go online.
The article features Q&A with Metro CEO Art Leahy:
"The underlying notion is that we should treat Measure R as an economic stimulus package. Moreover, we should tell Washington that there is no national recovery without a California recovery and there is no California recovery without a Los Angeles recovery. So the idea is if we can get low or no interest loans of some kind from Washington, D.C., we could then accelerate Measure R projects, trying to get them done in 10 years."
"Measure R is a good thing. The bad thing is that sales tax is down and the state's funding for transit operations largely goes down because of job loss, and therefore revenue is down. Those are all serious problems. In the context of SB 375, which links project approvals with regional transit services, the state has added policy while they defunded transit operations. That really tightens the problem that we have in the coming year."
Thanks to James Brasuell
FULL STORY: Metro CEO Art Leahy Talks Budget, Operations, Capital Projects

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

In Urban Planning, AI Prompting Could be the New Design Thinking
Creativity has long been key to great urban design. What if we see AI as our new creative partner?

Portland Raises Parking Fees to Pay for Street Maintenance
The city is struggling to bridge a massive budget gap at the Bureau of Transportation, which largely depleted its reserves during the Civd-19 pandemic.

Spokane Mayor Introduces Housing Reforms Package
Mayor Lisa Brown’s proposals include deferring or waiving some development fees to encourage more affordable housing development.

Houston Mayor Kills Another Bike Lane
The mayor rejected a proposed bike lane in the Montrose district in keeping with his pledge to maintain car lanes.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont