The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Detroit

After Amazon: Planning for Regional Growth

The dichotomy in economic outcomes around the country won't be solved by one-off competitions like the bidding process to land Amazon's second headquarters.

January 20 - Brookings

Bezos Center for Innovation at the Museum of History and Industry

What About the 218 Left Behind By Amazon?

A CityLab article surveys Twitter for the seven stages of Amazon grief.

January 19 - CityLab

trax light rail train in foreground, snow-covered mountains in background

A 'Fare-Free-Friday' Is a Rare Thing

The Utah Transit Authority ran a one-time Fare-Free-Friday in December, thanks to sponsorship by the Salt Lake City Council and the Salt Lake County Mayor’s Office. Another sponsor will be needed to support any future iterations of Fare-Free-Friday.

January 19 - KUTV

A private club located in Florida

Why Zinke Gave Florida a Break on Drilling

After announcing the coast of almost all states would be open for oil and gas production, the Secretary of the Interior changed his mind on one after meeting with Trump’s favored candidate for Senate.

January 19 - The New Yorker

Cincinnati Streetcar

Streetcars Out of Service in Cincinnati

It's been a rough week for the Cincinnati Bell Connector.

January 19 - WLWT


Brightline

Fatalities Mount from Brightline, South Florida's New Higher-Speed Train Service

A 51-year-old bicyclist became the second fatality in the first week of revenue service. It was the fourth fatality since the summer for the diesel train, which operates from West Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale.

January 19 - Sun Sentinel

Philadelphia Rowhouse

Philadelphia Loan Program Supports Home Repair

Philadelphia preserves affordable housing by investing $40 million into a new Housing Preservation Loan Program that will provide low interest loans of as much as $25,000 to fix up aging homes.

January 19 - The Philadelphia Inquirer


Trump Campaign

Pushing Against HUD, Fair Housing Activists Look to Procedure

With the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule on the ropes, a legal strategy has emerged to challenge HUD's plan to delay enforcement.

January 19 - CityLab

Bloomberg Philanthropies

Bloomberg's 'What Works Cities' Initiative Now Has 100 Participants

The What Works Cities initiative has grown quickly since it launched in 2015.

January 19 - Route Fifty

Speed Limit

Portland Lowers Most of its Speed Limits to 20 mph

Portland has implemented one of the most sweeping commitments to traffic safety of any city in the United States: 20 mph speed limits over the vast majority of the city's streets.

January 19 - Streetsblog USA

US 43 Historic Maps

Friday Eye Candy: Charting Road Maps By Hand

In the days before Google Maps, when AAA TripTiks and Thomas Guides ruled the planet…

January 19 - National Geographic

Seattle, Washington

The $5 Billion Question: Will Cities Win or Lose in the Bid for Amazon's Second Headquarters?

We asked more than a dozen urban experts: How will cities gain or lose from the competition to host Amazon's second North American headquarters?

January 18 - Penn IUR Urban Link

Solar Powered City

Residents Move Into America's First Solar Powered Town

Residents will live in solar powered homes and ride around the community in self-driving, solar-powered shuttles. Babcock Ranch outside of Fort Myers, Florida, has been in the making since 2005. A city of 50,000 is forecasted.

January 18 - CBS This Morning

Radar Speed Sign

Radar Speed Sign 2.0: How a Small Town Calmed Its Traffic

To get a handle on drivers whizzing through its main road, the small town of Betterton, Maryland installed a "smart" radar speed sign. The data it collected helped the local sheriff's department improve traffic enforcement.

January 18 - Governing

Internet Infrastructure

Private Telcos More Expensive Than Municipal Broadband 85% of the Time

A Harvard study found that, in 27 communities and cities with both private and city owned internet, the municipal broadband was almost always cheaper.

January 18 - Boing Boing

Rental Construction

How Did Cities Boost Affordable Housing in 2017?

Affordability is elusive in many of America's cities, but some of them made concrete efforts to fight that trend in 2017.

January 18 - Next City

Amazon Fulfillment Center

Amazon Announces 20 Finalists for its Second Headquarters

In September, 238 applicants dreamed the impossible dream of attracting the second headquarters of Amazon, along with some 40,000 jobs. Today, all but 20 of those applicants will have to find a new quest.

January 18 - The New York Times

Hells Kitchen Sidewalk New York City

Falling Crime Rates Have Changed American Cities

The drop in crime in cities has extended American life expectancies, especially those of black men, and brought more wealthy people into urban areas.

January 18 - The New York Times

Urban Setting

Tax Abatements Could Spur Adaptive Reuse in Washington, D.C.

Faced with commercial vacancies around 11 percent and the prospect of new office supply coming online soon, D.C. stakeholders are pushing for a bill that would provide incentives for conversions of office buildings into residential units.

January 18 - The New York Times

Carnegie Museum of Natural History

Pittsburgh Hoping to Improve its Winter Storm Recovery Efforts

The city of Pittsburgh is responding to complaints by residents of poor road conditions after snow and ice coated the city's rad this week.

January 18 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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