‘Living Streets’ lets residents apply for three types of temporary or semi-permanent street closures.

A revived open streets program in Austin, Texas, now named Living Streets, will offer neighborhood groups three options for closing streets to car traffic, reports James Rambin in Austin Towers.
The first option, the ‘block party,’ lets residents close a single block for up to 24 hours on a designated day. Healthy Streets, meanwhile, creates an indefinite closure of three to four blocks using semi-permanent fixtures, similar to the interventions used during the pandemic. According to the city’s website, “After selecting resident-led applications for implementation, City staff will install and maintain semi-permanent partial street closure treatments that discourage motor vehicle traffic and provide more space for walking, biking, and rolling.”
The third option, a new program called Play Streets, lets residents “close a single block for up to 12 hours a week on up to three chosen days of the week for use as a play and gathering space for kids and families.”
Rambin notes that “These three approaches still allow local traffic and don’t reduce access for emergency vehicles or other normal street services like trash collection or deliveries.” The program calls for 60 percent approval from residents on the affected blocks.
FULL STORY: Austin’s ‘Living Streets’ Could Make Your Neighborhood Walkable Again

Rethinking Redlining
For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

California High-Speed Rail's Plan to Right Itself
The railroad's new CEO thinks he can get the project back on track. The stars will need to align this summer.

‘Displaced By Design:’ Report Spotlights Gentrification in Black Neighborhoods
A new report finds that roughly 15 percent of U.S. neighborhoods have been impacted by housing cost increases and displacement.

Nevada and Utah Groups Oppose Public Land Sell-Off Plan
A set of last-minute amendments to the budget reconciliation bill open up over half a million acres of federally managed land to sales.

More Than a Park: A Safe Haven for Generations in LA’s Chinatown
Alpine Recreation Center serves as a vital cultural and community hub in Los Angeles' Chinatown, offering a safe, welcoming space for generations of Chinese American residents to gather, connect, and thrive amidst rapid urban change.
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.
City of Clovis
City of Moorpark
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions