It's back to the drawing board for the I-5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project.

The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) will have to again review the environmental impacts of a proposed freeway widening project on Interstate 5 in the Rose Quarter near Downtown Portland, reports Jayati Ramakrishnan for The Oregonian.
"In a letter to ODOT, made public by the climate activist group No More Freeways, Federal Highway Administration administrator Phillip Ditzler said he rescinded his approval of the environmental assessment because of modifications ODOT made to the I-5 freeway project since he approved the findings in 2020," according to Ramakrishnan.
The modifications in question are a freeway cap:
Those modifications include a freeway cover that would reconnect several blocks in the Albina neighborhood, a historically Black community that was partially razed in the 1960s to build I-5. That plan was approved by the Oregon Transportation Commission in September following a long disagreement between ODOT and local entities, including the community nonprofit Albina Vision Trust, as well as the city and Multnomah County. Those groups had said ODOT’s original plan for freeway covers was inadequate.
The I-5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project, as the freeway widening proposal is called, has been a poster child for the highway widening status quo in recent years, attracting focused criticism after ODOT released an environmental impact assessment in February 2019 that promised the project would deliver air quality and traffic safety improvements.
The source article includes insight into the decision by the Federal Highway Administration and potential next steps for local groups fighting the project.
FULL STORY: ODOT must redo environmental study for Rose Quarter freeway project after feds rescind approval

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.

‘Mega-Landlords’ Threaten Housing Stability for Renters
As institutional investors buy up a larger share of single-family homes, the families renting them are increasingly vulnerable to rent increases and eviction.

Number of Unhoused People Lower in San Francisco, but Growing Across the Bay Area
While the city saw fewer people experiencing homelessness for the first time in years, homelessness across six Bay Area counties grew by 8 percent.

Minneapolis Housing Activists Hope To Revive 2014 Federal Complaint
A 2014 complaint about segregated housing lodged with the Department of Housing and Urban Development could revive integrationist housing policies to improve opportunities for all residents.

El Salvador President Envisions Retro-Futurist ‘Bitcoin City’
In the same week that the cryptocurrency’s value took a nosedive, the president of El Salvador unveiled a model for a volcano-powered ‘smart city.’
DMR Architects
County of Sonoma
City of Malibu
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Harvard GSD Executive Education
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.