The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

San Francisco BART Station

BLOG POST

Lessons from Pandemics: Valuing Public Transportation

Public transit is critical for efficient and equitable transportation, but it is currently under threat due to fears of COVID-19 contagion. Now, more than ever, planners must communicate transit benefits and respond to inaccurate criticisms.

June 12 - Todd Litman

Chicago Train Station

Metra North Central Service Line Riders Push for More Service

A new report imagines more robust service on one of Metra's regional commuter lines in Chicago.

June 12 - Streetsblog Chicago

Bike Cops

Vision Zero...Without the Enforcement

As a leading bicycle advocacy organization withdraws support for police enforcement of Vision Zero plans, the discretionary practices of traffic enforcement come under rejuvenated scrutiny.

June 11 - Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia

Port of Seattle

With a Key Bridge Cracked and Closed, Seattle Considers Another Tunnel

The West Seattle Bridge, a key artery for car commuters in Seattle, has been closed since March, and the city has begun to consider a broad array of options for repairing or replacing the span.

June 11 - The Seattle Times

Central Coast California

And the Best City for Bicycling in the U.S. Is...

This university town of 47,000 on the Central Coast of California has also been called by National Geographic the "Happiest Place in America." Is there a relationship between biking and happiness?

June 11 - Smart Cities Dive


Inland Empire Airport

Transportation Authority Choose the Boring Company in the Inland Empire

The San Bernardino County Transportation Authority decided that Elon Musk's The Boring Comany offers a cheaper, faster alternative to proposals that would build a light rail connection to the Ontario International Airport.

June 11 - Daily Bulletin

Jacksonville, Florida

Racial Disparity in Home Lending Is Today's Redlining

According to a new report detailing discriminatory lending in Chicago, people in majority-white neighborhoods continue to receive more loans, and in greater amounts, than people in majority-Black and majority-Latino areas.

June 11 - WBEZ 91.5


Twin Cities

Advocates Push for Policy Reform to Overcome History of Discriminatory Deed Covenants

The debate about police reform in Minneapolis is only one arena for the city's reckoning with systemic racism.

June 11 - Next City

Back Bay

Renters Falling Behind, Survey Says

New survey data from Massachusetts finds massive housing market stress as more and more renters falling behind on payments.

June 11 - The Boston Globe

Homelessness

Housing Programs on the Chopping Block in Philadelphia

The city of Philadelphia is facing a $649 million budget shortfall, and Mayor Jim Kenney is proposing to cut deeply from the city's housing budget to make up the difference.

June 11 - WHYY

View of sky reflected in windows of Tour Montparnasse in Paris

Office Space: So Last Year?

Did coronavirus bring certain death to the traditional concept of the office, or is it only a matter of time until we return to business as usual?

June 10 - The Economist

Brazil Olympics

The Pandemic's New Epicenter

On May 22, the World Health Organization declared Latin America the new epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. Brazil is second in the world in reported cases after the U.S., and Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and Mexico are also suffering disproportionately.

June 10 - The Washington Post

Wisconsin Capitol

Researchers Analyze Pandemic Transportation Patterns for Planning Lessons

An article details the efforts of Madison-area researchers to glean lessons from the transportation patterns of March and April to inform better planning for the future.

June 10 - Wisconsin State Journal

Cincinnati, Ohio

Transit Improvements Coming to Cincinnati Area After Voters Approve New Sales Tax

Hamilton County, Ohio, home to Cincinnati and the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority, has a new coffer of money to fund public transit improvements.

June 10 - Government Technology

Coronavirus Protest

BLOG POST

Debating the Future of Cities After the Coronavirus, Volume 3

The third installment of an ongoing, curated list of a particularly contemporary genre of urbanism punditry.

June 10 - James Brasuell

2018 Razzle Dazzle Parade

The Midwest Paces the Nation in Population Loss

Two cities in Illinois are examined as case studies of population decline in the post-industrial economy.

June 10 - Chicago Tribune

Eichler

The Housing Market During COVID-19: Supply Dips, Prices Rise

While fewer houses are being bought and sold in the first months of the pandemic, prices are on the rise as buyers find less supply available on the market.

June 10 - CNBC

14th Street Busway New York City

20 Miles of Bus Lanes and Car-Free Busways Coming to New York City

While it falls short of a more ambitious proposal pitched by the MTA recently, a new plan to expand bus priority on the streets of New York City would mark a significant expansion of a trend that started on 14th Street in Manhattan.

June 10 - StreetsBlog NYC

Louisville, Kentucky

FEATURE

Pollution, Place, and the Unnecessary Tragedy of Premature Death: Lessons for COVID-19

In Louisville, scene of multiple instances of police violence in recent weeks, low-income and Black populations living in neighborhoods dealing with decades of industrial pollution are now suffering the worst public health outcomes of COVID-19.

June 9 - Gregory D. Squires

Houston, Texas

Interstate 45 Realignment Would Cut Through a Historic Black Neighborhood in Houston

A plan to realign Interstate 45 in Houston has been criticized as a highway boondoggle as well as a failure of racial and social equity, and recent protests have only amplified the latter criticisms of the project.

June 9 - Streetsblog USA

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New York City School Construction Authority

Building Inspector

Village of Glen Ellyn

Manager of Model Development

Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO

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