Government / Politics

Funding for Washington DC H Street Streetcar Line Pulled at 11th Hour

The Washington DC City Council voted Wednesday to approve a FY2011 budget which strips nearly all the funding to complete the H Street-Benning Road streetcar line. The line is partially complete, and several streetcars have already been purchased.

May 26, 2010 - Greater Greater Washington

Do You Have $600 Billion For A New Transportation Bill?

DOT Secretary Ray LaHood is taped while speaking at a community meeting in Manhattan's Chinatown expressing enthusiasm for 'tolling', though it's not clear what roads or bridges would be tolled, which was clarified in a subsequent email.

May 25, 2010 - Transportation Nation

Transport Revolutions

Lester Brown explores how bus rapid transit systems and other innovations are transforming transportation in cities across the world.

May 24, 2010 - Grist

Missing Britain

A new book documents great buildings demolished throughout Britain. Nicolas Lezard points out how many were lost not to German bombs but to poor planning decisions.

May 23, 2010 - The Guardian U.K.

Calthorpe, California and Climate Change

Peter Calthorpe sees California Assembly Bill 32, the law mandating a state-wide reduction in carbon emissions, as the key to pushing through great urbanism.

May 23, 2010 - Fast Company

Report: Senate Climate Legislation Good For Economy

In the first major study of how the Senate climate legislation would affect the economy, a non-partisan think tank indicated it would create new jobs and reduce American reliance on oil and coal while increasing usage of both nuclear and renewables.

May 23, 2010 - Greenwire via The New York Times - Energy & Environment

Opening Data Makes Finding Urban Solutions Easier

Next American City's Christian Madera reports on a series of seminars looking at how the growing open data movement is helping to offer cities solutions to some of their operational problems.

May 22, 2010 - Next American City

With Transit Funding in the Dumps, Seattle Could Ditch Ride Free Area

A section of downtown Seattle has for decades been a fare-free public transit zone. Those days could be coming to an end.

May 22, 2010 - The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Inside an Urban Water System

Urban water systems are immense -- and little-understood. Places presents this video from the Center for Urban Pedagogy looking down below the streets to illuminate the mystery city water delivery.

May 22, 2010 - Places

Houston, A Model City for the U.S.

Houston is often the butt of many urban planners' jokes. With no formal zoning, wide roads and huge houses, it's often what urban planners are trying to move American cities away from. Joel Kotkin argues Houston is a model city for the U.S.

May 21, 2010 - Forbes

Carpooling Falls Out of Favor

In Seattle, parking spaces are reserved for people who carpool into downtown. But in recent years, an increasing amount of those parking spaces are empty.

May 21, 2010 - Seattle Weekly

Tensions Between House & Administration Stymie Transportation Progress

Tensions have arisen between the Obama administration and Oberstar, who is anxious to get working on the transportation reauthorization bill. DOT Secretary LaHood is calling for an extension of the 2005 highway bill instead.

May 21, 2010 - Politico

Chickens Come Home To Urban Roost?

Another city, South Florida's Delray Beach, wrestles with whether chickens can co-exist with urban residents.

May 21, 2010 - South Florida Sun-Sentinel

How The Census Affects Cities

The Census is being collected and urban officials are waiting to see how this decade;s count will affect how federal funding is distributed. Next American City talks with the Brookings Institution's Andrew Reamer about what's at stake.

May 20, 2010 - Next American City

Nearby Commercial Interests May Be Asked to Fund D.C. Streetcar System

Washington D.C.'s planned 37-mile streetcar system will be a boon to nearby businesses, according to a recent report. As a result, the mayor is pushing a plan that would ask commercial property owners to help fund the system.

May 20, 2010 - The Washington Post

Funding Delays Add Slightly to Toronto's Light Rail Timeline

Despite uncertainties about funding and objections from the city's mayor, Toronto's light rail plans are moving ahead, according to transit officials.

May 20, 2010 - Global Toronto

Breaking Down the Walls in Jerusalem

Deputy Mayor Naomi Tsur of Jerusalem is proposing that the city must 'emerge from its [many] walls', and connect and enhance its vibrant public spaces.

May 19, 2010 - myurbanist

Time for an International Conservation Market?

A recent proposal by Britain's Conservative Party to create a system of conservation credits to protect biodiversity should be expanded to a global scale, according to this piece from The Guardian.

May 19, 2010 - The Guardian

Pedophile Island

A gubernatorial candidate in California wants to take one of the Channel Islands (a national park) and make it a place to dump pedophiles, with their own separate society.

May 18, 2010 - Curbed

Senate Climate Bill Called A Gas Tax

The American Power Act climate legislation by Senators Kerry and Lieberman, unveiled May 12, does have fees that oil refineries must pay, but is it a stretch to call the bill a disguised gas tax? Edmunds.com analyses American Solutions charge.

May 17, 2010 - Edmunds.com

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