Baltimore schools are the oldest in Maryland, and they need massive improvements to their heating and cooling systems. Management hasn't been up to the task of undertaking the repairs.
Schools all over Baltimore are going without sufficient heat this winter. Sadly, the problem is not new. Aging facilities, uneven funding, and mismanagement have plagued the system for years. Though Baltimore city schools problem with heating and cooling is well documented, the system has been unable to spend the funds it did have. "Baltimore City schools actually returned more than $65 million in state building maintenance and repair funds over the past eight years, mainly because the funds were not being spent according to the state’s time requirements." reports Edward Ericson Jr. in CityLab.
Ericson Jr.'s account details the ways fraud around the maintenance of city school facilities is decades old and has lead to jail time for some. After audits in 2006 called for review of the system’s financial management, improvements did not materialize. "The next year, it was discovered that millions of dollars in boiler repairs, window and door upgrades, and other critical work was paid for, verified, and inspected—but not done," Ericson Jr. Reports.
FULL STORY: How Baltimore Students Got Left in the Cold
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
Planning for Accessibility: Proximity is More Important than Mobility
Accessibility-based planning minimizes the distance that people must travel to reach desired services and activities. Measured this way, increased density can provide more total benefits than increased speeds.
World's Largest Wildlife Overpass In the Works in Los Angeles County
Caltrans will soon close half of the 101 Freeway in order to continue construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing near Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County.
Amtrak Takes Lead on Texas Central Rail
The high-speed rail project isn’t a done deal, but if it moves forward, trains could begin operating in 2030.
Maine Approves Rent Relief Program
Legislators hope the assistance program will help struggling low-income households avoid eviction.
How Transit Architecture Impacts Real and Perceived Safety
More than a third of Americans believe major transit systems are too unsafe to ride. The built environment can change that.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
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.