Transit advocates are saying the Koch Brothers are responsible for a sudden outbreak of controversy surrounding the South Central Light Rail Extension in Phoenix.

Ahead of a critical vote on a panned light rail extension in Phoenix, Jessica Boehm reports on the financial interests behind the "grassroots" opponents and supporters of a plan to reduce the automobile lanes on Central Avenue to make room for the light rail extension.
Renewed debate over the extension began in March, when a group of south Phoenix business owners asked the council to reconfigure the project to maintain four traffic lanes on Central Avenue. The current plan would reduce the thoroughfare to two lanes.
The Phoenix City Council approved the two-lane plan in 2014 and voters approved funding for the project in 2015. But some south Phoenix residents have said they weren't aware of the lane decrease until this year.
The controversies over the lane reconfiguration has provoked a political action committee called Building a Better Phoenix to begin the process of acquiring signatures "to send back the light rail funding issue to the voters," according to Boehm. The City Council has also discussed shifting some of the funding approved by voters for transit in 2015 to street projects instead. An article by the Associated Press provides more detail about the protests that have raised the light rail plans to the level of controversial in recent months.
"At the same time, a group called Arizonans for Transportation launched a polished website and social media campaign dubbed 'Build South Central' to push back against the anti-light rail messaging," adds Boehm.
Neither organization has revealed the sources of its funding, but Angie Schmitt is willing to press further in assigning credit for Building a Better Phoenix to the Arizona Free Enterprise Institute, which is a "Koch-connected dark-money group," according to a 2o16 article by Laurie Roberts.
FULL STORY: Koch brothers? Valley Metro? Who's paying for pro- and anti-light rail campaigns?

Planning for Congestion Relief
The third and final installment of Planetizen's examination of the role of the planning profession in both perpetuating and solving traffic congestion.

Minneapolis Housing Plan a Success—Not for the Reason You Think
Housing advocates praise the city’s move to eliminate single-family zoning by legalizing triplexes on single-family lots, but that isn’t why housing construction is growing.

New White House Housing Initiative Includes Zoning Reform Incentives
The Biden administration this morning released a new program of actions intended to spur housing construction around the United States.

Study: Most of Vancouver Is a ‘15-Minute City’
A large majority of Vancouver residents can access a grocery store in 15 minutes or less by bicycle or on foot.

Urban Design, Transport, and Health
The Lancet medical journal published a series of articles that explore how to evaluate and guide urban planning decisions to create healthy and sustainable cities. Live long and prosper!

Detroit Bike Share Celebrates Five Years
In its five years of operation, Detroit’s MoGo bikeshare has added electric and adaptive bikes to its fleet of more than 600 bikes.
Urban Planning Partners
Sandy City
Ada County Highway District
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Redwood City
City of Rohnert Park
City of Hot Springs
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.
Hand Drawing Master Plans
This course aims to provide an introduction into Urban Design Sketching focused on how to hand draw master plans using a mix of colored markers.