Government / Politics
California's High-Speed Train to Nowhere?
Don't tell that to the 18,000 residents of Shafter. However, the Legislative Analyst's Office made clear in its March 17 report that it questioned having the southern end of the first operating segment located "in an unpopulated agricultural area."
Technology Companies Selected for California Road Charge Pilot
California's Road Charge Pilot Program is set to start this July. Applications for the 5,000 volunteers are being collected. Three companies hope to entice participants to select their programs by offering them 'high-tech perks.'
Shedding Light on the $3.7 Trillion Municipal Bond Market
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is working toward new levels of transparency in the municipal bond market.
In Austin, Corporations Don't Get Paid for Promises
Austin is pushing its economic development policy to go beyond chasing the big deal.
Southern California Association of Governments Stalling on CEQA Reform
One of the largest, most influential regional governments in the state has asked for exemptions from changes to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) that will measure Vehicle Miles Travelled (VMT) instead of Level of Service (LOS).
Sparks Fly at Congressional Hearing on Flint Water Crisis
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy sat side-by-side at a Congressional hearing on the lead exposure suffered by citizens of Flint.
How Real Are Toronto's Big Transit Plans?
Age-old transit planning questions will be raised over the next year in Toronto.
About That Shocking Twitter Storm by @SFBART
The word "shocking" above could also have been "depressing," and the word "storm" could have also been "rant." Or it could have been "honest" and "victory." When it comes to transit, everyone sees what they want to see.
Los Angeles Voters Won't Decide on Anti-Development Measure in November
Saying that their controversial "Neighborhood Integrity Initiative" would be 'buried' in a November ballot, the Coalition to Preserve L.A. will revise it and gather signatures to put it on the March ballot next year.
$120 Billion Transportation Bond May Be Headed to Los Angeles County Voters
The transit and road measure, based on extending and increasing half-cent sales taxes, would fund a massive amount of light rail, bus, and road measures, including building a Sepulveda Pass tunnel which would accommodate a toll road and rail line.
Op-Ed: Politicians Should Leave the Transit Routes to Planners
While it will certainly comes as a relief to some commuters living in the San Gabriel Valley, the Metro Gold Line extension that opened earlier this month was more the result of politics than planning.
The Next Frontier for Compact Walkability? It's Gotta Be the Burbs
Suburban retrofit: what's next in issues, approaches, strategies, and tools.
New Guide Will Help You Take Action in the Streets
With a grant from the Knight Foundation, Street Plans is creating the "Tactical Urbanist's Guide to Materials and Design" to provide engineer-approved materials guidance for citizen-led demonstration, and city-led pilot and interim design projects.
Hillary Clinton's Surprisingly Blunt Message to Coal Workers
The message was so atypical for a politician wooing votes. "We'll put coal miners out of business," Hillary Clinton warned the audience at Sunday night's Democratic Town Hall in Columbus, Ohio, giving credence to President Obama's "War on Coal."
Would Bernie Sanders Delay the Obama Climate Initiative?
Watching Wednesday's Democratic debate between Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I was startled to hear Clinton claim that Sanders said he would delay Obama's Clean Power Plan rule. PolitiFact investigated, though the result wasn't clear-cut.
Denied: Proposed LNG Export and Gas Pipeline in Oregon Rejected by FERC
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission denied a contentious $7.5 billion Liquefied Natural Gas export facility, pipeline, and power plant in Coos Bay, Ore., which had received environmental clearance.
President Obama and Prime Minister Trudeau Agree to Reduce Methane Emissions
Climate change was front and center at a Thursday morning joint press conference at the White House, where U.S. President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed to several energy, environmental, and Arctic initiatives.
San Francisco Leading CEQA Reform Process—Scraps Level of Service
The San Francisco Planning Commission took historic action earlier this month, voting to end the use of Level of Service in environmental review.
Open Data Census Finds States Lagging
The recently released U.S. States Open Data Census discovered that the overwhelming majority of states have a lot of work to do in opening their data to the public.
Friday Funny: John Oliver Skewers Special Districts
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver tackles the corruption and mismanagement of special districts, which are well known to professional planners, but perhaps not to the rest of the general public.
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
