The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Arch Coal's plans to develop a mine in Otter Creek Valley, east of Billings, is the latest casualty in the death throes of the coal industry.

March 12 - Bozeman Daily Chronicle

Despite concerns than foreign investors would snatch up expensive condo properties around Manhattan, keeping the supply our of reach of local renters, analysts report rental prices are dropping as new supply enters the market.

March 12 - Bloomberg Business

People use different transportation systems depending on the time of year, yet transportation planning rarely accounts for this seasonal variation.

March 12 - Metropolitan Planning Council

The San Francisco Planning Commission took historic action earlier this month, voting to end the use of Level of Service in environmental review.

March 11 - San Francisco Planning Department

Details are emerging about Biketown—the new bikeshare system coming to Portland. Portland is making use of online engagement and interactive mapping to inform station location choices.

March 11 - Bike Portland

An opinion piece says its time for transit agencies to start treating riders like valued customers.

March 11 - Voice of San Diego

The Baton Rouge tram, as the city is describing its proposed transit project, now has a preferred route and is ready to proceed to the final stages of environmental review.

March 11 - The Advocate

The recently released U.S. States Open Data Census discovered that the overwhelming majority of states have a lot of work to do in opening their data to the public.

March 11 - Government Technology

With a new Governors Highway Safety Association report estimating that the number of pedestrian fatalities jumped 10 percent in 2015, the highest ever, we look at efforts in Nevada and Louisville, Ky. to increase pedestrian safety.

March 11 - Las Vegas Sun

What's the best way to deliver long-term affordable housing?

March 11 - Shelterforce/Rooflines

Those Volkswagen cars fitted with the cheat device are a health hazard to city residents. Actually all diesel vehicles are. But the fact that those cars are effectively polluting over 40 times the legal limit means we should take immediate action

March 11 - Cities of the Future

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver tackles the corruption and mismanagement of special districts, which are well known to professional planners, but perhaps not to the rest of the general public.

March 11 - Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

The nation's second largest commuter railroad may go on strike this Sunday. New Jersey Transit's bus and light rail operations are not affected. Eleven rail unions have been operating without a contract since 2011.

March 11 - The New York Times

FEATURE

Simply banning bikes from riding on sidewalks does more harm than good. A better understanding of why people choose to ride bikes on the sidewalk will be necessary to create safer environments for all users.

March 10 - Ariel Godwin and Anne M. Price

A new policy paper argues that real economic development reaches all levels of the economy—not just the top.

March 10 - Brookings Institution

This month, the city of Chicago will choose a team of engineers to brainstorm an express rail line to O'Hare Airport. The plan has come under criticism for diverting future resources away from transit in low-income areas.

March 10 - Chi.Streetsblog

New Republican majority of SCAQMD voted to adopt oil industry-backed emissions rules on refineries and other major pollution sources

March 10 - Los Angeles Times

A new study finds that U.S. drivers drive distracted more often than they devote their full attention to the road.

March 10 - CityLab

Containing more than 500 open datasets, GeoHub lets users access the wealth of data Los Angeles makes available. The tool is also intended to help employees from different city departments work together.

March 10 - Next City

The city of Cleveland has begun to build a political consensus around the need to update its 1929 zoning code.

March 10 - The Cleveland Plain Dealer