Infrastructure

Is Latin America the Next Biking Paradise?

From Buenos Aires, to Mexico City, to Bogota, cities across Latin America are embracing the bicycle. Across Central and South America, bike lane miles and the numbers of bicycles on the streets are on the rise.

August 11, 2012 - The Wall Street Journal

San Antonio Spurs Pioneering Water Conservation Effort

With a multipronged strategy, San Antonio has managed to achieve the nearly impossible - keeping water use flat while accommodating substantial growth - rightfully earning it the title "Water's Most Resourceful City," reports Mose Buchele.

August 10, 2012 - NPR

Is Sprawl to Blame for Municipal Bankruptcies?

As the fear of more local government bankruptcies rises, William Fulton argues that sprawling development patterns play a key role in leading cities to run in the red.

August 10, 2012 - CNN

Buying Water by the Baggie in Lagos

In a city where urban water infrastructure ranges from "insufficient" to "nonexistent," Lagos entrepreneurs have developed a bustling trade in "sachet water." Is it time to focus more attention on regulating the sachet industry?

August 10, 2012 - Sustainable Cities Collective

How Sprawl's Zombie Remains Prohibit Lively Places

Zoning codes, street standards, parking regulations, and other hidden determinants of the built environment are like regulatory zombies from the distant past, throwing up barriers in the path of human-scale placemaking, writes Robert Steuteville.

August 9, 2012 - Better! Cities & Towns

India's Energy Problem: Coal Shortage or Too Much Coal?

Dueling pieces in Foreign Policy and the Christian Science Monitor come to completely different conclusions on the connection between the great Indian blackout of July 31 and the country's reliance on coal.

August 9, 2012 - Foreign Policy

Famous in Car Culture, Route 66 Resurfaces as a Destination for Bicyclists

The beauty of a ride along Route 66 can be appreciated as much from behind a set of handlebars as from behind a steering wheel. Sarah Laskow reports on efforts to create U.S. Bike Route 66 as the first national bike route.

August 9, 2012 - Grist

Falsified Test Results Call Into Question the Safety of California's Roads and Bridges

Charles Piller reports on the investigation into suspect safety test results for roads and bridges across CA, including the new Bay Bridge, revealing a string of troubling data for which officials and critics are holding Caltrans accountable.

August 8, 2012 - The Sacramento Bee

Chicago Adding Protected Bike Lanes to Appeal to Young Professionals

Art Golab reports on Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan to make Chicago "the bike friendliest city in the country," which the mayor hopes will attract and keep high tech companies and their workers. The best part? The entire city benefits!

August 8, 2012 - Chicago Sun-Times

Could a Toll Road Boost Maine's Economy at the Cost of its Identity?

Katharine Seelye writes on the clash between business interests and residents of rural Maine, where a proposed private toll road has revealed a difference in values.

August 7, 2012 - The New York Times

Mysterious NYC Street Markings Explained

Countless street-gazing tourists and residents of New York have wondered what the mysterious markings - one that looks like a blue poker chip, the other a yellow E - embedded in New York's streets signify. Kate Hinds has the answer.

August 6, 2012 - Transportation Nation

New Jersey Charts its Future Growth, Angering Environmentalists

In producing updated sewer service maps, New Jersey's 21 counties have partnered to sketch out statewide development well into the future. Critics complain that the plans favor developers over the environment, reports Jill P. Capuzzo.

August 6, 2012 - The New York Times

Congress Fails to Learn From I-35W Bridge Collapse

Five years after the I-35W bridge collapse, Congress has yet to address the failing condition of America's bridges. There is no consensus between the two parties in Congress on how to remedy the situation, unlike the progress shown in Minnesota.

August 5, 2012 - StarTribune (Minneapolis)

Questioning America's Love Affair with Bus Rapid Transit

The number of BRT systems in the U.S. continues to rise, with new lines opening in cities across the nation. But, a debate has arisen within the transit community over just how much should we rely on such systems.

August 5, 2012 - Governing

Amtrak Shoots for the Moon, Hopes to Stay in Operation

With a flurry of ambitious, and big ticket, proposals unveiled over the past three weeks, chronically under-budgeted Amtrak is shifting its strategy in the hopes of proving its potential worth.

August 4, 2012 - Bloomberg

A Fascinating View of New York, From 80 Feet Below

In an article and dramatic photographs and video, The New York Times documents the construction of the city's Second Avenue subway, which has been delayed for more than 80 years and is due to be completed in December 2016.

August 3, 2012 - The New York Times

Can the Los Angeles River Reclaim a Starring Role?

From its mountain tributaries, to the San Fernando Valley, through Downtown, and across the basin into the Pacific Ocean, Christian MilNeil tells the story behind the ecological and recreation rehabilitation of the Los Angeles River.

August 3, 2012 - Grist

Defeat of Atlanta Tax Measure is Huge Loss to the Region

In light of the resounding defeat of Atlanta's regional referendum on a transportation sales tax that could have brought 'transformative infrastructure' to the sprawling region, Brookings' Adie Tomer provides a brief post-mortem on the historic vote.

August 3, 2012 - TNR (The New Republic)

Five Years Later: What Lessons Have Been Learned From I-35W Bridge Collapse?

Part 4 of this multi-part series on the 5-year anniversary of the August 1, I-35W bridge collapse by David Levinson, U. of Minnesota Professor of Civil Engineering, deals with the three vetoed gas tax measures before and after the bridge collapse.

August 2, 2012 - Streets.MN

Plans for Elevated Roadway in Oklahoma City Encounter 'Buzz-Saw of Criticism'

According to Steve Lackmeyer, traditional highway design, aimed at the automobile, is clashing with modern urban planning trends, of 'complete streets' and multi-modes, over a new proposal to build an elevated highway in Oklahoma City.

August 2, 2012 - NewsOK

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.

Senior Planner

City of Thousand Oaks

Community Development Director

City of Wisconsin Rapids

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

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