Government / Politics

San Jose, California

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.

August 25, 2016 - Office of California State Senator Fran Pavley

Echo Park

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.

August 24, 2016 - The Planning Report

Boyle Heights

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.

August 24, 2016 - The Planning Report

Hurricane Sandy

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.

August 24, 2016 - PlaceShakers

Bay Bridge Toll Traffic

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.

August 24, 2016 - tripnet.org

Moscow, Russia

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.

August 23, 2016 - Foreign Policy

Food Trucks

Minneapolis Grapples with Food Truck Regulations

Downtown property owners are clashing with food truck operators over where the latter should park their businesses.

August 23, 2016 - MinnPost

Shanghai Subway

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.

August 23, 2016 - Governing

Drinking Water

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.

August 22, 2016 - Casey Brazeal

New York Trash

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.

August 22, 2016 - Politico New York

Vintage Taxi

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.

August 22, 2016 - Business Insider

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.

August 21, 2016 - Indystar

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.

August 20, 2016 - Shelterforce/Rooflines

Double Trucks

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.

August 20, 2016 - New York Times

Expo Line

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.

August 19, 2016 - Los Angeles Times

Donald Trump

Trump Gets China Advice From Slow-Growther

In yet another surprising twist to the candidacy of Donald Trump, one of his economic advisors happens not only to take a dim view of China but also a dim view of urban growth.

August 18, 2016 - California Planning & Development Report

Betsy Ross Bridge

New Jersey Gas Tax Standoff Leaves Construction Workers in the Lurch

The plight of laid-off laborers who had been repaving a New Jersey bridge illustrates that people suffer as well as infrastructure and mobility when transportation funding bills fail to pass.

August 17, 2016 - The North Jersey Record

Interstates

Last Chance to Comment on U.S. DOT's New Performance Measurement Rule

So far the reviews have not been kind to the proposed changes to the U.S. Department of Transportation performance measurement rule. The public comment for the proposed rule closes August 20.

August 17, 2016 - The Hill

Drone

New Report Guides Local Regulation of Drones

The National League of Cities is preparing for a future where cities will need to regulate the use of airspace by commercial drones.

August 16, 2016 - National League Of Cities

Electric Cars

Legislation Will Increase Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate in California

With comprehensive legislation to enable California to continue its powerful agenda of tackling climate change in peril, a Southern California assemblywoman will introduce legislation to tackle the specific issue of sales of electric vehicles.

August 16, 2016 - Digital Trends

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.