The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Illegal in Honolulu: Looking at a Phone While Crossing the Street
The Honolulu City Council approved fines for distracted walking—specifically for pedestrians crossing the street while looking at their phones.

BLOG POST
The Roots of Racial Transition
In some American cities, the white population is growing while the black population is declining. Is this a result of gentrification or of black upward mobility?

Defending Road Pricing from Public Opinion
Access Magazine takes a deep dive into congestion management, explaining the reasoning behind a publicly unpopular strategy: road pricing.

Proposals for Displacement-Free Development in D.C.
Cities have to prioritize displacement as a policy issue if they want to achieve inclusive growth, writes David Whitehead.

The Era of the Electric Vehicle is Approaching
A new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance predicts that due to a plunge in battery prices and improvement in battery technology, electric vehicles will be cost-competitive with gasoline vehicles in eight years. By 2040, they will outsell them.

FEATURE
A City With Room for Everyone
A vision set forth for Los Angeles in 1970 still has powerful relevance in 2017.
Historic Vote by California Senate on Cap-and-Trade Expected Monday
Caling the upcoming vote on AB 398, which has created strange political bedfellows, "the most important vote of your life," Gov. Jerry Brown cast the decision as choosing between "massive new regulations" and market-based mechanisms.

Why was BART's Ridership Forecast for Millbrae Station So Wildly Off-Base?
In 1995, planners forecasted that the Millbrae BART Station in San Mateo County, where riders can transfer to/from Caltrain, would attract 16,500 weekday riders. Fourteen years after it opened, ridership is 7,000. Planners were off by 58 percent.

Owens Valley Calls on Eminent Domain to Buy its Water Back from Los Angeles
Call it a reverse Chinatown.

The Poetic Grid Maps the Lyrics of Place
There's only one requirement to qualify for Seattle's Poetic Grid project: write a poem about a specific place.

Road Funding By Taxes, Tolls, and Fees, Broken Down by State
The Tax Foundation endeavors to provide a simple explanation of road funding.

Suburban Poverty in the Denver Region Compares Favorably to National Averages
A more nuanced understanding of suburban poverty is available from an examination of the Denver region.
Decision Time for Bus Rapid Transit on I-35 in Austin
The rubber meets the road, or not.

Sea Level Rise Will Displace Communities in Every Corner of the Bay Area
Sea level rise is already flooding communities with such regularity that many residents are deciding to leave. The sea level rise tipping point will expand its reach as the climate changes.

Report Suggests Improvements for Chicago's Network of Underground Paths
A new report is potentially a first step in a larger project to revamp Chicago's Pedway—an under-appreciated network of tunnels in downtown Chicago.
Study: Bike Lanes Raise Property Values in Brooklyn
New bike lanes in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick started raising property values within a year.

Friday Friendly: More Houses Should Have Patios in the Front
With so many houses oriented to the privacy of backyards, one street in St. Louis has redefined neighborly by orienting their sitting and relaxation areas to the front yard.
Report Predicts the End of Individual Car Ownership
The first report from independent think tank RethinkXL predicts that by 2031, 95 percent of U.S. passenger miles traveled will be served by on-demand, autonomous electric vehicles owned by companies providing transport as a service.

Bike Friendliness Ends at the City Border
A new report details the work Chicago's suburbs will have to do to live up to the bike-friendly example of its urban core.

Trump Budget Would Nix Tsunami Warning System
The difference in lives saved between tsunamis that hit Crescent City, California in 1964 and 2011 was an early detection and warning system. Now it's up to Congress to save the $12 million system from the proposed cuts in Trump's budget.
Pagination
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.