Government / Politics
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pagination
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.
Greater Baltimore Committee
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association