Infrastructure

Downtown Buffalo

Will a Rail Expansion Proposal in Buffalo Have Better Luck This Time?

The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority would like to expand its 6.4-mile Metro rail line. It's an idea that failed before, due to outcry from the public. Has the public changed enough to allow this change to come to the region?

April 25, 2017 - The Buffalo News

Magnolia Gardens

Google's South Carolina Groundwater Battle a Sign of Things to Come

A political battle over a large withdrawal of water for use by a Google server farm has one reporter deploying words like "war" and "free-for-all" to tell the story.

April 25, 2017 - The Post and Courier

Pedestrian Safety

What Makes a Good Trail?

To better advocate for the kind of walking and biking infrastructure it wants to see in a regional trail network, the Capital Trails Coalition has set out to define the components of a high-quality trail.

April 25, 2017 - Greater Greater Washington

Tennessee Governor Poised to Raise Gas Tax by Six Cents per Gallon

Both chambers of Tennessee's General Assembly approved Gov. Bill Haslam's transportation plan on April 19, which hikes diesel taxes by 10 cents per gallon but lowers other taxes. Indiana appears poised to follow with a 10-cent gas tax increase.

April 23, 2017 - The Tennessean

Hyperloop

Hyperloop Delivery Schedule Delayed Again

So far, the Hyperloop's biggest supporters have made a lot of big promises, but continue to fall short on deliverables.

April 22, 2017 - The Wall Street Journal

Metro Bikeshare

After a Wet Winter, Bikeshare Ridership Lags in Los Angeles

Bikeshare is still fairly new in Los Angeles, located mostly around downtown before expanding to the rest of the city. So far, however, residents have been slow to adopt the system.

April 21, 2017 - KPCC

Commerce Street

Sidewalks Required in More of Nashville, Thanks to New Law

Supporters of Nashville's new sidewalk requirements for residential construction say sidewalks are a critical component of transportation infrastructure.

April 21, 2017 - The Tennessean

Harney County

Environmentalists Defeat Wind Energy Project in Southeast Oregon

Plans for a wind energy facility have been vacated after environmentalists successfully challenged the environmental review for the project.

April 21, 2017 - AP via The Oregonian

Hiking Trail

Grand Canyon Development Plans Will Wait Another Year

The Navajo Nation is not moving forward with a controversial plan to build a tram that would connect tourists from the rim of the bottom of the Grand Canyon, along with commercial and retail space. The proposal isn't totally dead yet, however.

April 21, 2017 - The Arizona Republic

Atlanta BeltLine

Friday Funny: Atlantans Rely on Humor to Deal With Series of Highway Mishaps

No freeway no cry.

April 21, 2017 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Freeway Construction

PIRG Releases Third Highway Boondoggles Report

A new report from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group and the Frontier Group indicates that highway boondoggles have been getting bigger, more costly, with the benefits more limited. Nine projects are analyzed in "Highway Boondoggles 3."

April 20, 2017 - Illinois PIRG

Hurricane Ike Damage

Insurance Industry Reacting as Flooding Moves From Risk to Certainty

Federal legislation and rising sea levels are changing the way homes are insured against flooding. According to this feature article, in fact, flood insurance "is serving as a kind of advance scout into a more difficult future."

April 18, 2017 - The New York Times Magazine

Los Angeles

Lawsuit Closes Popular Hiking Trail to the Hollywood Sign

Closing today: one of the most popular hiking trails in the Hollywood Hills, another case of the antipathy between public access and private property.

April 18, 2017 - KPCC

110 South

Opinion: Don't Forget the Benefits of Urban Freeways

After reading this recent opinion piece by Bill Fulton, some pro-transit and anti-highway advocates might be thinking, "Et tu, Bill Fulton?"

April 18, 2017 - Governing

New Jersey

Want Commuter Benefits? Sometimes it Helps to Ask

A story about how a simple proposal, made by a resident, produced results in the New Jersey borough of Paramus.

April 18, 2017 - NorthJersey.com

BART Station

BART Extension Kerfluffle: East Bay Officials Pushing for New Rail Authority

If the city of Livermore and several state legislators gets their way, a proposed extension of BART to the city of Livermore would be planned and built by the Tri Valley-San Joaquin Valley Regional Rail Authority.

April 17, 2017 - East Bay Times

Electricity

The Nation's Energy Portfolio, Visualized

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) released its annual energy flowchart.

April 17, 2017 - Vox

Lincoln Memorial

Kotkin and Florida Team Up to Agree on Devolution

"Vive le difference!" reads the rallying cry if an article co-authored by Richard Florida and Joel Kotkin.

April 17, 2017 - The Daily Beast

Idaho Governor Stands Against Using General Fund Money for Highway Expansion

Writing that a $320 million transportation finance bill "violates my user-pay, pay-as-you-go philosophy toward transportation funding," Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter explained why he allowed the bill to become law without his signature.

April 17, 2017 - Idaho Mountain Express

Gwinnett County

Atlanta's Own 'Carmageddon' Follows a Familiar Pattern

The destruction of an expanse of I-85 in Atlanta means the heavily travelled freeway will be closed for months. The disaster that was predicted to follow, however, has so far failed to materialize.

April 16, 2017 - City Observatory

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.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.