Harris County, home to Houston and the scene of widespread devastation during Hurricane Harvey and other weather events, will make large-scale changes to development regulations on floodplains for the first time in almost 20 years.
Harris County is proposing new floodplain regulations that would use 500-year floodplains instead of 100-year floodplains for new development, according to an article by Mihir Zaveri.
According to Zaveri, the new floodplain regulations would be "the first significant overhaul of county elevation requirements in nearly two decades." Not only would the new regulations stretch the geographic areas under the purview of floodplain regulations, the new regulations would also "force developers to build new homes eight feet higher than previously required in some flood-prone areas."
FULL STORY: Harris County proposing dramatic overhaul of floodplain regulations
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
Baltimore to break ground on $50 million Transit Priority Project
The project will bring faster bus trips, safer streets and better bike connections to Baltimore.
Airbnb launches $250 million 'last-dollar financing' housing accelerator, makes first investment in Austin
The company will put $6.4 million towards affordable housing development in Texas’ capital.
Guerilla urbanists are building DIY bus stop benches in Chicago
A before-and-after of one of the bus stops with a new bench. The new benches are not officially sanctioned or permitted, but the residents who placed them hope they will be the start of a network of DIY benches across the city.
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.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association