Due to economic hardship, the Worcester County, Maryland is proposing to consolidate 3 departments into 1, cutting 11 jobs out of 65, just as new codes are coming online. Environmentalists are concerned.
""It [the consolidation] is just too coincidental with new zoning regulations just being made open to the public. The general public is not happy," said Kathy Phillips, who patrols the coastal bays looking for pollution as the "coastkeeper" for the Assateague Coastal Trust. She noted that more than 350 people showed up at a public comment meeting on the draft of the zoning code on June 2, many of them saying they were worried that the county was straying from its 2006 Comprehensive Plan."
Read the full story: Government Layoffs Spark Debate Over Zoning, Development
Philadelphia Could Hit the Brakes on Housing
With bills on the table to update its zoning code, Philadelphia may be poised to slow the pace of its housing construction.
Facebook Campus Expansion Moving Forward in Menlo Park
A proposal to expand Facebook's footprint in the city of Menlo park gained key approval from the city's planning commission recently. The full City Council still needs to approve the plan.
Government Reform Proposed for Better Planning in Philadelphia
Geoff Kees Thompson digs into one component of this old city's proposed mayoral platform for Philadelphia: the need to organize the city's alphabet soup of planning agencies under one director and give the Planning Commission teeth.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
In Texas, data centers are swallowing promised parkland
Residents who moved to Taylor, Texas for a rural community now have to contend with three data centers in their backyard.
How a Chicago-sized wind farm beat the odds and powered on
The project spanned five presidential administrations and a standoff with a U.S. military base.
MTA gives itself 30 days to transform pit into basketball court
The site has been under construction since 2022; the city originally estimated it would finish the court in 2024.
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.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority