A new park in Chicago aims to turn 140,000 acres of under-used and post industrial land along the Second City's southern rim into the country's largest urban park. Governor Pat Quinn hopes to add private funding to the $17m allotted by the state.
Illinois hopes that the park will be "the first viable, large-scale attempt to protect and enhance the Lake Calumet area through an integrated, cooperative approach to land and resource management," said the Sierra Club.
If completed, the park will be easily larger than Central Park, which is a mere 843 acres, and Lincoln park, currently Chicago's biggest at 1,200 acres. The largest urban park deserving of the name in the contiguous United States is Phoenix's South Mountain Park, at more than 16,000 acres. Enclosed by the Phoenix-Glendale sprawl, the dusty stretch of rocks and rolling brush is home to rattlesnakes and lizards.
FULL STORY: A Plan For America's Largest Urban Park

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

Map: Where Senate Republicans Want to Sell Your Public Lands
For public land advocates, the Senate Republicans’ proposal to sell millions of acres of public land in the West is “the biggest fight of their careers.”

Restaurant Patios Were a Pandemic Win — Why Were They so Hard to Keep?
Social distancing requirements and changes in travel patterns prompted cities to pilot new uses for street and sidewalk space. Then it got complicated.

Platform Pilsner: Vancouver Transit Agency Releases... a Beer?
TransLink will receive a portion of every sale of the four-pack.

Toronto Weighs Cheaper Transit, Parking Hikes for Major Events
Special event rates would take effect during large festivals, sports games and concerts to ‘discourage driving, manage congestion and free up space for transit.”

Berlin to Consider Car-Free Zone Larger Than Manhattan
The area bound by the 22-mile Ringbahn would still allow 12 uses of a private automobile per year per person, and several other exemptions.
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