Government / Politics
How to Make a Resilient City (budget)
Building intensity can do just about everything: make a city budget more resilient, conserve land, and encourage infill. And possibly make your morning omelet.
Sequester Cuts Menace New York's Most Vulnerable Residents
A looming $205 million budget shortfall due to sequester-related federal funding cuts have the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) preparing to make drastic cuts to staff and programs.
Does Proposed Merger Signal Planning's Surrender in Los Angeles?
Rick Cole, former City Manager for the City of Ventura CA, analyzes the upcoming merger of the Department of City Planning with the Department of Building and Safety in the City of Los Angeles.
As Feds Drag Their Feet on New Regulations, Environmentalists Fume
Worries about the economic impacts of new regulations, high-level vacancies and election-year politics have raised the review time for new rules being considered by the Obama administration to a 20-year high. Many in his own party are not pleased.
Suburban Poor? Are You Sure?
Brookings Institute's “Confronting Suburban Poverty” is generating a lot of buzz. Community development leaders and planners took to Rooflines to voice opinions and critiques of the book, moving its authors to submit a response that you must read.
The Obama Transportation Funding Tease
Expect a major announcement from President Obama later this year about transportation funding, stated outgoing DOT Secretary Ray LaHood, without elaborating other than saying it would be "big and bold". LaHood had been asked about VMT fees.
Reborn San Diego Planning Department Gets New Director
Mayor Bob Filner's promise to revive San Diego's shuttered planning department became a reality with the announcement of Bill Fulton as its new director. The former mayor and author of the 'definitive guide to California planning' starts on July 8.
Four Options to Keep the Highway Trust Fund Solvent
MAP-21 expires on September 30, 2014. The following year, the Highway Trust Fund will be insolvent according to the CBO. Alternatives involve user fees paid by motorists: the gas tax and VMT fee, and two others that bear no connection to driving.
Social Impact Bonds Spread in the U.S. With Help of Harvard Lab
Harvard's SIB Lab has announced the winners of a competition to receive technical assistance with developing social impact bond programs; an idea that has 'traveled from concept to execution faster than any other social innovation in recent history.'
Gas Tax Woes: A Tale of Two New England States
As states struggle with ways to increase transportation revenue to shore-up aging infrastructure, we look at Conn. and N.H. Due to indexing, one will increase its gas tax by 4-cents on July 1, while the other rejected a 12-cent increase over 3 years.
Federal Funds Intended to Help Homeowners Will Instead Fund Demolitions
Federal money earmarked to help prevent foreclosures and assist underwater homeowners will instead be used to fund housing demolitions in a $100 million pilot project in five Michigan cities.
Maryland County Seeks to Spur TODs by Fast-Tracking Approvals
Prince George's County will streamline the review process for developers who build around public transit stations, writes Miranda S. Spivack. The bill could speed up the approvals process by as much as a year.
Brookings' Bruce Katz: U.S. 21st Century Economy Powered by Exports, Energy & Innovation
Bruce Katz, president and founding director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution, explains how the economies of America's largest metropolitan areas are driving the country's future prosperity.
Smart growth and city budgets: what matters most?
Where you build is important. But when it comes to city budgets, how much you build matters more.
CEQA Reform Advances in CA Legislature, Likely to Become Law
A bill aimed to 'modernize' California's landmark environmental law passed the state's Senate by a vote of 39-0, and its chances of being signed into law appear strong. A bill to revive redevelopment advanced, but seems destined to be vetoed.
Cleveland Leaders Agree to Spend Surplus Cash on Downtown Revitalization
This week, Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald unveiled how he and Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson would like to spend the nearly $100 million in surplus revenues that had been set aside for a downtown project. Steven Litt likes what he heard.
Little-Noticed Rule Change May Be Big Statement of Obama's Climate Agenda
The DoE recently updated its energy-efficiency standards for microwaves. Big deal, right? Actually, observes Brad Plumer, by upping the 'social cost of carbon' used to calculate the benefits of the rule, the government has made a big shift.
In Key Ruling, Court Orders Study of Highway Expansion's Effect on Sprawl
A federal court has ruled that a proposed highway expansion said to be the largest single transportation project in Wisconsin history must consider regional impacts (on sprawl and transit-dependent populations) in its environmental analysis.
Bike Helmet Safety Not What We Thought It To Be
According to Jim Titus, two federal government agencies will withdraw their claims that bike helmets are "85% effective".
Indexing Gas Taxes: Kentucky Shows How
While some state struggle to raise the gas tax by even a few cents a gallon, indexing the excise tax to inflation avoids these costly battles. Kentucky approved such legislation over 10 years ago. On July 1, the gas tax will increase by 2.4 cents.
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 Moorpark
City of Tustin
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
