The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

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Why local governments can not always be trusted to run housing policy.

May 14 - Michael Lewyn

U.S. PIRG wants states to use funding from multi-billion dollar Volkswagen settlements to convert the nation's school bus fleet, 95% of which is diesel-powered, to zero-emission buses to reduce children's exposure to toxic air pollution.

May 13 - U.S. Pirg

Kathleen Pender, business columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, points to two reasons why home prices rise amidst a Bay Area exodus to other states. On a state level, out-migration shows California's strong but dysfunctional economy.

May 13 - San Francisco Chronicle

Once, trains dominated the city’s economy, now it's "brains, bikes and beer," according to city officials.

May 13 - Governing

Encouraging compact land use by allowing density, building near transit, and eliminating parking minimums can have a powerful effect on the emissions a city generates.

May 13 - Streetsblog

Young people make less money and spend a greater share of their incomes on transit than their older peers. Labour thinks subsidizing travel for young people could be a boost to young people and the economy.

May 13 - The Guardian

A new book on urban ecology shows how quickly wild species living in cities can adapt to their surroundings.

May 12 - National Geographic

Electric scooters need maintenance and charges, so Bird is using the gig economy to make sure its scooters keep scooting.

May 12 - Curbed

Trees improve cities by controlling temperature, absorbing water and carbon dioxide, and adding beauty.

May 12 - The Conversation

We've all seen the maps that show the water rising around the edges of costal and waterfront communities as sea-level rise and climate change take effect. A new report shows the effects that have already changed the state of California.

May 12 - Sacramento Bee

The city of New York wants more capacity to store energy, so it's making the process of permitting energy storage projects easier to understand and follows.

May 12 - Smart Cities Dive

California added 309,000 residents last year, an 8 percent drop compared to annual increases since 2010. The state added a net 85,000 housing units, accounting for losses to wildfires.

May 11 - SF Gate

On the U.S.-Mexico border just west of the Gulf of Mexico, Brownsville looks to take advantage of its sunny territory.

May 11 - Next City

A community land trust is making moves in the Fruit Belt neighborhood of Buffalo, New York.

May 11 - WIVB

YIMBYs don't understand poverty, claimed one social justice group. Few, if any, connections with equity groups and too many with tech companies may have helped doom SB 827's chances of making it to first base in the legislature this year.

May 11 - Los Angeles Times

While popular and common in other countries, the "Barnes Dance" crosswalk is sill catching on in the United States. Montgomery County, Maryland is the latest to test out the "All Direction" crosswalk.

May 11 - Montgomery County Government

Prices remain depressed in most formerly redlined neighborhoods, but several such areas in Denver now boast higher home values than the city as a whole.

May 11 - The Denver Post

Brookings has put together nine rules for more cohesive and effective housing policy, despite federalism's tendency to create near-infinite local variety.

May 11 - Brookings

Newly released images from NASA's terra satellite chronicles the history of lava on Hawaii's Big Island.

May 11 - Quartz

Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh thinks short-term rental companies like Airbnb are having a negative effect on the city's housing market, and he'll walk a fine line to regulate the industry.

May 11 - The Boston Globe