Government / Politics
Amtrak Receives $2.45 Billion Federally Secured Loan for New Acela Trains
Amtrak will replace, rather than overhaul, aging Acela trains with new, 186-mph trains from French manufacturer, Alstom, though they won't exceed 160 mph. The agreement was announced Friday by VP Joe Biden at Biden Station, Wilmington, Del.
Affordable Housing and the 2016 Election
The cost of housing affects millions across the country, but the issue has been conspicuously absent in the campaigns. Hillary Clinton's plan includes an imprecise remedy, while Donald Trump's pronouncements have been vaguer still.
Climate Change Requires a Different Paradigm for California's Water Supply
Jeff Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, explains how the impacts of California’s historic drought are already changing the landscape of the American Southwest.
Earned Income Should Not Replace Public Funding for Community Development
Our plan was to seek out community-based organizations trying to back away from developer fees, pursuing recent implications that smaller organizations should consider leaving development work to more efficient, larger ones. We found none.
Sacramento Rising: Mayor-Elect Darrell Steinberg's Vision for Sustainable Communities
Mayor-Elect Steinberg enters City Hall as a leader with a unique opportunity to enact sustainable infill policies he championed in the California Legislature.
With Help from The White House, Key California Climate Bill Advances
SB 32, the bill that continues the Golden State's rigorous carbon-cutting agenda, had failed last year and looked like it would do the same this year. It cleared the Democrat-controlled state Assembly on Tuesday, receiving one, lone Republican vote.
Los Angeles' Neighborhood Integrity Initiative Presents Demands to City Leaders
Last week, leaders of the initiative to curb development in L.A. surprisingly presented Mayor Eric Garcetti with an ultimatum: Agree to their list of demands by August 24, or they will take the issue to the March 2017 ballot.
East Los Angeles Community Groups Prove that Community Planning Matters
The landscape of community development in Los Angeles today differs vastly from even a few years ago. Two groups in East L.A. are developing solutions to accelerating gentrification and displacement and a compounding affordable housing crisis.
Unpredictable, High Risk, High Cost: Planning for the Worst Is the Worst
Ben Brown takes a hard look at our capacities and limitations in a world more complex than we’d prefer.
Bad Roads and Bridges Costing California Motorists as Much as $2,800 Annually
The transportation research group, TRIP, tallied costs from additional crashes, higher operating costs, and congestion that result from insufficient investment in California's roads and bridges. A new effort was launched to increase state funding.
Moscow's Erratic Shift Towards a Walkable City
Moscow's Mayor has pushed an agenda to beautify the city, create social spaces, and make the city more walkable, but critics see the move towards walkability as more of a forced march.
Minneapolis Grapples with Food Truck Regulations
Downtown property owners are clashing with food truck operators over where the latter should park their businesses.
What's Keeping the U.S. Behind China on Infrastructure Investment?
The problem, Paul Rosenstiel writes, isn't a scarcity of capital. It's an unwillingness to make investing in infrastructure a lucrative choice for private capital.
Crowdsourcing Clean Drinking Water, Interview with Sean Montgomery
An Interview with Sean Montgomery, the inventor of CitizenSpring, an app that collects and maps data about safe drinking water.
Change Coming to the Way New York City Collects its Trash
The de Blasio Administration has recommended that the city of New York is ready to collect its trash in a new way, with a system known as franchising.
Massachusetts to Raise Money for Taxis from Levy on Uber and Lyft
A new levy on transportation networking companies in Massachusetts will raise funds to help level the playing field for taxi businesses.
Communities of Faith Backing Indianapolis Transit Funding Referendum
Transit investments in Marion County, Indiana, could be funded through a proposed increase of income taxes. The proposed funding referendum has the backing, and the phone-banking, of a coalition of local church congregations.
As Affordability Worsens, State and Local Governments Act on their Own
New data points to the continued worsening of rental housing affordability. Due to a lack of federal response, some state and municipal governments are taking matters into their own hands in an attempt to add to their supply of affordable housing.
New Rules to Make Heavy Trucks Cleaner and More Fuel Efficient
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Transportation jointly issued final standards on Aug. 16 to reduce emissions and improve fuel economy for heavy duty trucks which currently average about six miles per gallon.
Big Payoff for Transit from California Cap-and-Trade Program
The future of cap-and-trade in California may be uncertain, but the $391 million allocated Tuesday from the program for greenhouse gas-reducing transit capital projects is real. A plan to release $1.2 billion of carbon revenue has been introduced.
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.
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
