A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The Make Autorail Great Again Act would withhold federal funding to the system until the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), rebrands as the Washington Metropolitan Authority for Greater Access (WMAGA).
Tim Halbur is communications director for the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), the leading organization promoting walkable, mixed-use neighborhood development, sustainable communities and healthier living conditions. He was managing editor of Planetizen from 2008 to 2011.
In the battle against climate change, cities will be even more important than we think, says Michael Mehaffy, managing director of the Sustasis Foundation. Research presented in Copenhagen shows that Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMTs) are only part of the story, and should not be considered in isolation from other factors.
In the midst of discussions over "food deserts" (areas of town with no access to fresh groceries, usually poor urban neighborhoods) comes news that a program creating food stamps for farmers markets is booming in New York City.
In Ashtabula, Ohio, City Manager Tony Cantagallo is incensed that a handful of downtown businesses neglecting their storefronts are holding back the attempts to revitalize Main Avenue.
Houseboats are usually thought of as unique, single-family homes. Erikstad Architecture proposes creating a more uniform set of condo-like floating homes.
Mark Dery looks back at the birth and death of the mall, from Victor Gruen to the present collapse, then beyond to proposals for reusing and revitalizing mall spaces.
