The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

A red semi truck on a highway onramp

Autonomous semi trucks to hit California roads

The Department of Motor Vehicles has issued the first ever permit for heavy-duty autonomous vehicles to be tested on California's roads.

August 17 - Yahoo! News

A segment of California high speed rail

California High-Speed Rail Authority could be broke by the end of 2027

A report from the Office of Inspector General says the authority must borrow against state infusions to stay afloat.

August 17 - Smart Cities Dive

People standing under a covered walkway in Singapore

Singapore's secret to keeping transit cool in sweltering heat

The tropical city state known for superior transit has a tip or two for keeping transit manageable as cities heat up.

August 17 - The Cool Down

Electric vehicles loaded on a truck

How to access California's new $3500 EV rebate

How to make the most of the $270 million program replacing federal EV tax credits in California.

August 17 - CALmatters

Book cover of "Arrested Mobility"

BLOG POST

Unarresting mobility: A conversation with Charles T. Brown

In “Arrested Mobility: Overcoming the Threat to Black Movement," Charles T. Brown offers a blueprint for acknowledging — and beginning to overcome — the role of systemic racism in urban planning.

August 17 - Stephanie Rouse


Painted bike lanes in Somerville

New England's densest city celebrates 4 years with no traffic deaths

A Boston suburb has achieved — and maintained — Vision Zero results "almost unheard of in any urban area."

August 16 - Boston Globe

An older model Amtrak train

Amtrak receives $5.3 billion for new trains, new tracks and infrastructure improvement

The 41 projects to receive grants were selected from 103 applicants seeking more than $11.6 billion.

August 16 - Trains.Com


LAX people mover

Meet the Hollywood YouTuber who exposed the LAX people mover "fiasco"

Nick Andert uncovered the "brazen and unethical behavior" that has mired the Los Angeles International Airport people mover in years of delays and cost overruns.

August 16 - The Hollywood Reporter

Postcard depiction of an old train line

Lost lines: Amtrak's discontinued and defunct named trains

The Abraham Lincoln, the Cape Codder and El Capitan are just a few names lost to Amtrak history.

August 16 - American Rails

A San Francisco tram in front of tall buildings

Residents sue San Francisco for overriding TOD law

Advocates argue that exempting thousands of parcels from Senate Bill 79 is an "egregious example of the city flouting state law."

August 14 - San Francisco Chronicle

Citi Bike riding through NYC

Art project makes NYC Citi Bikes physically harder to pedal in rent-burdened neighborhoods

Ground Truth, created by Brooklyn artist Justin Blinder, slows bikes down to make cyclists feel the burden of high rent.

August 14 - Wired

People in a crosswalk in downtown Vancouver, BC with tall glass apartment towers in background and streetcar cables criss-crossing above the street.

FEATURE

To upzone or not to upzone? Two views on the housing crisis

Allowing more density can increase the housing supply, but does the attendant rise in land prices cancel out the benefits?

August 14 - Michael Lewyn

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum during the opening ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games.

LA has no plan — or funding — to help unhoused people displaced by Olympics security efforts

City and county officials say they don't have the funds to offer housing to the up to 1,600 people that will be displaced by perimeters around event venues.

August 13 - LAist

Aerial of graded lot next to highway in Mission Valley, California.

San Diego State intergenerational housing project will bring 250 homes for older adults to campus

The project is part of the university's Mission Valley campus that includes 4,600 housing units.

August 13 - Times of San Diego

Large garage in downtown Houston, Texas.

Downtown Houston parking garage will take up an entire block

The garage will connect to the Houston Center retail complex, a 4.6-million square foot office and commercial site.

August 13 - Houston Chronicle

Group of children with backpacks walking across a street at a crosswalk.

The number of kids walking to school dropped from over 50% to 11% since the 1960s

Unsafe pedestrian infrastructure makes walking to school dangerous or impossible for a growing number of American students.

August 13 - Upworthy

Woman in white shirt charging white electric sedan in front of house.

Swapping your gas car for an EV is greener than keeping it, research shows

An EV repays the 'carbon debt' caused by building it after 4,400 miles.

August 13 - Grist

Small brick food store with vintage signs and new handwritten signs for Mi Pueblo food store.

FEATURE

Can immigrant entrepreneurs save Main Street?

As millions of small businesses face ownership transitions, cities trying to revive commercial corridors may be overlooking one of their best sources of new investment: immigrant entrepreneurs.

August 13 - Richard T. Herman

tourists in blue raincoats walk on Pier 39 in the rain in San Francisco.

Rain gardens keep up to 99% of pollutants out of San Francisco Bay

The city's roadside rain gardens soak up stormwater and filter out dozens of harmful micropollutants.

August 12 - Governing

Green and yellow King County Metro bus.

King County Metro adds 3,000 weekly bus trips, more connections to rail

King County Metro and Sound Transit are both making major adjustments to their bus networks to improve light rail connectivity across the region.

August 12 - The Urbanist

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Senior Planner

City of Thousand Oaks

Community Development Director

City of Wisconsin Rapids

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

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

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.