The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Children

Where Community Development Block Grants Money Goes

A Forbes contributor provides analysis of how much states stand to lose if the Trump Administration succeeds in cutting funding for the Community Development Block Grants program.

April 12 - Forbes

Neighbors

Nextdoor Looking to Expands its Influence on Local Politics

A decade into its history, the hyperlocal social media site Nextdoor is looking for feedback and hoping to expand its reach before the 2018 and 2020 elections.

April 11 - Politico

Providence Ditches Streetcar Plans; Goes With High-Frequency Buses Instead

A decade ago, Providence considered a streetcar for land that once moved cars along the former path of Route 195. Now transit planners have once again shifted gears, targeting a high-frequency bus corridor for the area.

April 11 - Providence Journal

Corporate Parking Structures

How Apple's Headquarters Got More Parking Spaces Than Employee Spaces

Parking is back in the news, with a high-profile case study: the new spaceship-shaped headquarters of Apple in Cupertino has devoted a larger footprint to parking spaces than office space.

April 11 - The Economist

Pacific Northwest

A New Earthquake Warning System for the Pacific Northwest

Oregon and Washington are implementing sensors that can detect and report an earthquake to communities with as much as a minute or two of warning.

April 11 - KUOW


Medellin

Opinion: Gondolas Distract From the Realities of Transit

Gondolas seem to find their way into the public transit investment conversation again and again over the years, taking up space and air that could be devoted to more substantive issues of investment, maintenance, and operation.

April 11 - Streetsblog USA

BART Train

Can Public Transit Run on Solar Power?

California's Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) has recently been exploring ways to power its system using renewable energy sources, but is it really possible to power one of the state's "top 10 power consumers" with alternative energy?

April 11 - Doggerel


Mero Los Angeles

Best Fuel to Power Buses: Renewable Natural Gas or Battery-Electric?

Next month the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Authority will decide what type of buses to purchase to replace 1,000 aging diesel buses. Two op-eds in the Los Angeles Daily News present alternative viewpoints.

April 11 - Los Angeles Daily News

Border

Trump's Border Wall Would Bring 'Ecological Disaster'

Vox offers a feature length article, with lots of visual references, that tells the story of the ecological risks inherent with any plan to build a wall along the border between the United States and Mexico.

April 11 - Vox

Pokemon

A Few Ideas for Planning and Governance in the Digital Age

The Guardian samples prominent examples of digital natives bringing new expectations for the use of technology to the public sector.

April 11 - The Guardian

Cedar Rapids Flooding

A Toolbox of Green Infrastructure Solutions to Flooding Risks

A new one-stop shop for green infrastructure solutions is available to planners and engineers challenged by flooding.

April 11 - CityLab

Pedestrian Infrastructure

Oakland Hoping to Provide Safer Pedestrian Infrastructure at Construction Sites

"Every reasonable effort should be made to avoid and minimize construction impacts on pedestrian, bicycle, and bus facilities in Oakland," according to a guidance released by the city of Oakland earlier in 2017.

April 10 - Transport Oakland

Green TRash Bin

Baltimore Sets a Goal to Recycle More

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh has set a goal for the city to recycle twice as much as it currently does, and one advocacy group already has ideas about how the city can do so.

April 10 - Waste Dive

Texas

Design Activism, Texas-Style

With suburban sprawl a long-standing issue in Texas, one San Antonio-based architecture firm is aiming to strengthen and revitalize its city's downtown core.

April 10 - Doggerel

'Farm-to-Condo' Urban Agriculture Finds Roots in Brooklyn

Urban agriculture and market-rate multi-family housing developments could be a perfect match.

April 10 - The Wall Street Journal

Capitol Hill

Americans Are Ready for Tax Reform; But at the Cost of the Mortgage Interest Deduction?

Kenneth R. Harney reports on the possibility that lawmakers in Washington, D.C. could target the mortgage interest deduction as part of a Republican tax reform plan.

April 10 - The Washington Post

Grade Crossing

Grade Crossings Racking Up Costs on Denver's New A-Line

In a region with a full calendar of transit construction projects and high hopes for a positive stream of news, a premier and historic project has not gone as smoothly as hoped.

April 10 - The Denver Post

Yosemite

A Big Legal Win for the Climate Change Fight in the Golden State

The nation's only state-run cap-and-trade program survived a legal challenge by the California Chamber of Commerce and the libertarian Pacific Legal Foundation when a state court of appeal ruled 2-1 that the program doesn't amount to an illegal tax.

April 10 - Los Angeles Times

Subway Station

New Second Avenue Subway Stations Making Locals Smile

Light, airy, and filled with art, the new subway stations for the first phase of the long awaited Q subway extension, i.e., the Second Avenue subway, breaks away from the mold of other NYC subway stations.

April 10 - UrbDeZine

Massachusetts

Support for Highway Tolls Building in Massachusetts

If Republicans at the federal level succeed in pushing more transportation funding to the state level, more states will have to consider the path of states like Rhode Island, Texas, and, now, Massachusetts.

April 10 - The Boston Globe

Post News

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.

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.