Infrastructure

Native American Protest Grows in Response to North Dakota Pipeline Project
Comparisons to Wounded Knee have been common as a growing number of Native Americans are gathering in North Dakota to protest the construction of a new crude oil pipeline.

Dallas Mixes Residential Development With a Road Diet, Gets Controversy
The Dallas City Council approved a road diet for Knox Street in Dallas, where 1,000 residential units are under construction on an already thriving commercial corridor.

What's Powering the Texas Wind Energy Industry?
The Wall Street Journal provides detailed coverage of the Texas wind energy industry, as well as the prospects for even greater adoption of renewable energy in the state.
Amtrak Receives $2.45 Billion Federally Secured Loan for New Acela Trains
Amtrak will replace, rather than overhaul, aging Acela trains with new, 186-mph trains from French manufacturer, Alstom, though they won't exceed 160 mph. The agreement was announced Friday by VP Joe Biden at Biden Station, Wilmington, Del.

Planning for Resilience on Coney Island Creek
A case study in New York's response to the Hurricane Sandy flooding in the neighborhoods of Coney Island and Gravesend.

Climate Change Requires a Different Paradigm for California's Water Supply
Jeff Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, explains how the impacts of California’s historic drought are already changing the landscape of the American Southwest.

Sacramento Rising: Mayor-Elect Darrell Steinberg's Vision for Sustainable Communities
Mayor-Elect Steinberg enters City Hall as a leader with a unique opportunity to enact sustainable infill policies he championed in the California Legislature.

For Host Cities, Olympic Legacies Are Mixed
The two-week competition is often touted as a galvanizing force for urban development. But that's only cities include the Games' legacy in their planning process from the start.

The Heritage Trail, a 60-Mile Dream, Becoming a Reality on the Delaware River
The Heritage Trail would loop around either side of the Delaware River, from Trenton, New Jersey, down to Philadelphia and back, exploring historic sites and a variety of neighborhoods and parks all along the way.

New York Ready to Focus Revitalization Efforts in Far Rockaway
A Politico article describes the Far Rockaway neighborhood as still reeling from the effects of Superstorm Sandy and a history of underinvestment. The city is ready to launch a $91 million redevelopment effort to change all that.

Los Angeles' Neighborhood Integrity Initiative Presents Demands to City Leaders
Last week, leaders of the initiative to curb development in L.A. surprisingly presented Mayor Eric Garcetti with an ultimatum: Agree to their list of demands by August 24, or they will take the issue to the March 2017 ballot.

East Los Angeles Community Groups Prove that Community Planning Matters
The landscape of community development in Los Angeles today differs vastly from even a few years ago. Two groups in East L.A. are developing solutions to accelerating gentrification and displacement and a compounding affordable housing crisis.

Bad Roads and Bridges Costing California Motorists as Much as $2,800 Annually
The transportation research group, TRIP, tallied costs from additional crashes, higher operating costs, and congestion that result from insufficient investment in California's roads and bridges. A new effort was launched to increase state funding.

Dallas Planning Light Rail (Which Could Become a Subway) and a Streetcar
Downtown Dallas could have an embarrassment of riches on its hands, if it figures out how to make plans for a Downtown streetcar coordinate well with a new Downtown light rail route.

The Politics of Sidewalk Funding
Do cities that make homeowners repair sidewalks subsidize car culture? Or do cities that fund sidewalks subsidize sprawl?

Moscow's Erratic Shift Towards a Walkable City
Moscow's Mayor has pushed an agenda to beautify the city, create social spaces, and make the city more walkable, but critics see the move towards walkability as more of a forced march.

What's Keeping the U.S. Behind China on Infrastructure Investment?
The problem, Paul Rosenstiel writes, isn't a scarcity of capital. It's an unwillingness to make investing in infrastructure a lucrative choice for private capital.

Looking to Add More Trees? Mind the 'Sidewalk Gray Zone'
A case study provided by the MillionTreesNYC program offers insight into complicated territorial boundaries that can challenge urban greening projects.

Critiquing the Implementation of Seattle's Pedestrian Master Plan
A status update of the Seattle Pedestrian Master Plan leaves a writer wondering if the backlog of pedestrian infrastructure maintenance will grow while only a few planned projects get built.

Minnesota's Southwest Light Rail on its Last Legs
Republicans in Minnesota are ready to put the final nail in the coffin of the proposed Southwest light rail project, which would connect downtown Minneapolis to Eden Prairie.
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