The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Manhattan Congestion Pricing Could Start in 2023
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has resubmitted its environmental impact assessment to federal officials, who sent the agency over 400 additional questions earlier this year.

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The Business Case for Multimodal Transportation Planning
Travel demands are changing and so should planning. There are good reasons for communities to spend less on automobile facilities and more on walking, bicycling, and public transit. Let’s examine why.

Whitefish ADU Ordinance Could Ease Housing Crunch
Recently approved revisions to the city’s accessory dwelling unit regulations prioritize long-term rentals to increase housing affordability for local renters.

San Jose Begins Lowering Speed Limits
Thanks to a state bill, California cities can reduce speed limits on city streets by 5 miles per hour to improve traffic safety.

Tucson Development Boom Threatens Displacement of Longtime Residents
Median rent in Tucson rose by 30 percent since a year ago, prompting fears of displacement among many residents struggling to afford housing.

Vancouver’s Controversial Broadway Plan Approved With Amendments
A plan to add new significant amounts of housing, shifting development south into a “second downtown” around the future SkyTrain Millennium Line Broadway Extension, has been approved in Vancouver.

Opinion: Accessory Dwelling Units Will Benefit San Antonio
As the city considers loosening regulations on accessory dwelling units, one writer argues that the reforms would boost affordable housing and provide more options for changing household needs.

A New Life for the Suburban Office Park?
With more and more employers downsizing and moving to areas with more urban amenities, large suburban office parks offer an opportunity for increased density and mixed-use development.

Why Not Hold Traffic Safety to the Same Standards as Transit?
Many transportation modes, such as trains and airplanes, have robust, system-wide response mechanisms to investigate safety concerns when incidents occur. Why is traffic safety still seen largely as an individual responsibility?

California Budget Includes $4.2 Billion for High-Speed Rail
The recently approved state budget directs $4.2 billion in bond funding to the Bakersfield-to-Merced leg of California’s long-awaited high-speed rail project.

Biden’s Environmental Legacy (So Far)
President Biden campaigned on promises to restore many of the environmental regulations rolled back by the previous administration, while promising new efforts to tackle environmental injustice and climate change.

Help! Not Police! Crisis Responses That Avert Police Calls
Cities, court systems, citizen groups, and affordable housing operators are crafting ways of responding to emergencies that reduce the risk of negative police interactions.

Something Old, Something New: Biden’s Housing Plan
President Biden’s Housing Supply Action Plan is a catchall of existing proposals, tiny tweaks, and things Congress would have to fund—plus a few genuinely interesting administrative moves. Here’s the rundown.

Long Beach Opens New Water Playground
The coastal city just celebrated the grand opening of its newest beach attraction, an inflatable aquatic playground called the “Wibit.”

Houston Apartments To Be Demolished for Freeway Widening
Despite a federal hold on the controversial freeway widening project, the Texas Department of Transportation is pushing ahead with the demolition of an apartment complex in downtown Houston.

Did Chicago’s Speed Cameras Improve Safety? [UPDATED]
Advocates of automated enforcement argue it saves lives, but despite a dramatic rise in speeding tickets, pedestrian fatalities grew in 2021.

Washington Metro Faces Budget Deficit, Safety Issues
The capital’s public transit system, the country’s third-largest, has been plagued by a series of problems ranging from a looming fiscal deficit to train crashes and track fires.

San Francisco to Reconsider Inclusionary Zoning as Development Slows to a Crawl
Critics of inclusionary zoning frequently point to San Francisco as an example of what not to do. A sluggish year of development has some local politicians ready to reconsider the city’s program.

California Senate Committee Kills Freeway Expansion Bill
The proposed legislation would have prohibited new construction in historically underserved areas that often bear the burnt of the negative impacts of freeways.

Initiative Brings Capacity Building to Booming Rural Towns
A research and capacity building initiative based at Utah State University seeks to help fast-growing tourist meccas in the West plan for smart growth.
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