Government / Politics
Washington DC Imagines Itself Without Transit
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is celebrating its 35th anniversary and is finding ways to ascertain exactly what the agency has brought to the region.
Even or Odd? Rome Restricts Car Use
With pollution levels becoming dangerous in Rome, Italy, the government is taking a hard line on driving. In late November, only cars with even-numbered license plates were allowed to drive in the city, with odd plates the next.
For Luxury Apts, City May Exceed Parking Maximums
As plans move forward for luxury apartments on the site of Greenwich Village's former St. Vincent's Hospital, the city is divided over whether to allow an oversized parking garage on-site. The Municipal Art Society particularly cries "fuzzy math."
"Civic Action" Examines Art's Role In Development
The Noguchi museum in New York has asked four artists to take a crack at city planning by offering a new way of interpreting the construction of urban fabric. Martha Schwendener evaluates the results.
"Millionaire's Tax" Hurts the Poor, Too
NYU Urban Planning professor Mitchell L. Moss says that the poor will bear a larger burden as a result of their dependence on an equally burdened MTA--whose finances are being leveraged to help the rest of the state.
Public Parks to Cover Highways in Hamburg
The City of Hamburg, Germany is planning on building elevated public parks on sections of the to-be-expanded A7 (Highway 7), which is considered one of the most important north-south connectors in Germany.
HUD Announces Sustainability Grant Winners
The 27 communities and regional planning organizations selected will receive a total $96 million to achieve their economic and environmental goals.
NYC Housing Dept. Not Reaping Benefits of $33 Million Program
The Department of Housing Preservation and Development's "alternative enforcement program," designed to get landlords to make improvements on the city's worst buildings, is not living up to its potential.
Edward Blakey Reviews Moscow Expansion Plans
University of Sydney Professor Edward Blakely has reviewed Moscow’s plan to expand the capital’s borders to the south-west by 2014 and proclaimed that they will not hamper the city’s development. The territory will more than double.
Los Angeles Drafts Pro-Mural Ordinance
Part of the trouble is finding language that will prevent billboards from proliferating, but planners finally have a draft for public review (available in the article).
Public-Private Partnerships Don't Solve Everything
NY Governor Andrew Cuomo touts private investment as a solution to New York's transportation funding woes. But a conference of infrastructure experts agree that private partnerships aren't a substitute for public funds.
LaHood Defends HSR At House Transportation Committee Hearing
Speaking before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood defended the viability of the President's ambitious, national high-speed rail program.
How the Suburbs Killed Our Connectivity, And How to Fix It
The deeper our sense of community, the better positioned we are to take on change, says Scott Doyon, but the leisurely lull of the suburbs may have killed our ability to work together.
Zoo Wants Billboards
As Los Angeles works to rein in billboard blight around the city, the Parks and Recreation Dept. comes out with a surprise request for permission to put up more off-site signage.
The Living Wage Mandate Works
A 2003 policy that mandated that subsidized developements grant jobs at living wages has not hampered development, according to one official.
Public Sector Jobs Feeling the Pinch
While the news appeared positive in last week's jobs report, the public sector was significantly worse, with 20,000 government workers laid off in November alone.
Regional Planners Sued for Promoting Sprawl
The Cleveland National Forest Foundation is suing SANDAG over a $200 billion transportation plan that purportedly only promotes sprawl through freeway extensions.
Actualizing Seasteads
Brainchild of libertarians, seasteads are brand new cities built upon the ocean. It's not as far-fetched as it sounds, according to this article's author, but it will have to overcome the myriad engineering, energy, and legal challenges.
In Some Ways, Downtown Brooklyn's Aspirations Remain Just That
A recent rezoning led to high economic hopes for downtown Brooklyn. But a more recent economic downturn seems to have undermined those expectations. Indeed, some growth has occurred, but success depends on whom you ask.
Assessing the Visions for Mumbai
Various reports detail how Mumbai can become a world-class city by listing infrastructure and development goals, but, as Nayantara Kilachand points out, "cultural and social nuance" need to be--but aren't--factored in.
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.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
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
