The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Trains Now Connect the U.K. to China

China's "One Belt, One Road" program to create a network of trade routes across Eurasia took a major step forward this week when a freight train bearing export goods disembarked from the United Kingdom bound for China's Zhejiang province.

April 13 - Railway Gazette

Baker, California

More Sources Expressing Alarm at the Budgetary Fate of the 2020 Census

The Trump Administration's draft budget blueprint allotted a 10 percent increase in funding for the Census Bureau, but experts say that's not nearly enough funding in context of the decennial census's ten-year cycle.

April 13 - Science

Homeless Encampment

Mapping to Explain Homelessness in the U.S.

A team at Sasaki has created the "Understanding Homelessness" website, full of interactive features and one particularly helpful data visualization.

April 13 - CityLab

Uptown San Diego

San Diego Controversy Exhibits Disconnect Between Citizen Advisors and Planning Staff

A community plan update and a development proposal have led to hurt feelings and flared tempers in San Diego.

April 12 - San Diego Uptown News

Eviction

Evicted's Stories of Housing and Poverty Earn the Pulitzer Prize

Housing experts have been reading and passing around "Evicted," by Matthew Desmond, since its release last year. Now the book has won the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction.

April 12 - Slate


Bus Upholstery

Valley Metro Delivering on 'Phoenix Transportation 2050' Plan

Valley Metro announced a suite of bus service improvements this month, with even more potentially on the way later this year.

April 12 - Queen Creek Independent

California agriculture

California Fixed Gov. Schwarzenegger's Vehicle License Fee Revenue Gap

An old wound is mitigated thanks to two Democratic legislators from Riverside County who made it clear from the onset what it would take for them to sign-on to the Road Repair and Accountability Act, California's historic fuel tax and fee increase.

April 12 - The Press-Enterprise


Demonstration Project

Resources for Creating a Pop-Up Traffic Calming Demonstration

A how-to guide for concerned citizens and tactical urbanists interested in slowing down traffic in their community.

April 12 - Strong Towns

Movie Review: L.A. Urbanism via Jonathan Gold’s Culinary Mapping

A new documentary film about L.A. Times food critic Jonathan Gold turns out to be an excellent film for urban planners through the culinary mapping of Los Angeles. L.A. County parks planner, Clement Lau, reviews the movie.

April 12 - UrbDeZine

Parking Lots

Winner of the 2017 Parking Madness Tournament Announced

It's every Shoupista's favorite day of the year.

April 12 - Streetsblog USA

Working to Ease Gentrification Around D.C.'s Ambitious 11th Street Bridge Project

From the beginning of the proposal for the new 11th Street Bridge between Anacostia and Capitol Hill, planners and designers have promised to prevent the displacement of residents living nearby the new amenities offered by the bridge and its park.

April 12 - Washingtonian

Lower Colorado River

America's 'Most Endangered Rivers' Face New Threats in 2017

The American Rivers advocacy group has released its annual report on the country's most endangered rivers, paying special attention to the threats posed to the country's waterways in new federal policies and budget plans.

April 12 - American Rivers

Children

Where Community Development Block Grants Money Goes

A Forbes contributor provides analysis of how much states stand to lose if the Trump Administration succeeds in cutting funding for the Community Development Block Grants program.

April 12 - Forbes

Neighbors

Nextdoor Looking to Expands its Influence on Local Politics

A decade into its history, the hyperlocal social media site Nextdoor is looking for feedback and hoping to expand its reach before the 2018 and 2020 elections.

April 11 - Politico

Providence Ditches Streetcar Plans; Goes With High-Frequency Buses Instead

A decade ago, Providence considered a streetcar for land that once moved cars along the former path of Route 195. Now transit planners have once again shifted gears, targeting a high-frequency bus corridor for the area.

April 11 - Providence Journal

Corporate Parking Structures

How Apple's Headquarters Got More Parking Spaces Than Employee Spaces

Parking is back in the news, with a high-profile case study: the new spaceship-shaped headquarters of Apple in Cupertino has devoted a larger footprint to parking spaces than office space.

April 11 - The Economist

Pacific Northwest

A New Earthquake Warning System for the Pacific Northwest

Oregon and Washington are implementing sensors that can detect and report an earthquake to communities with as much as a minute or two of warning.

April 11 - KUOW

Medellin

Opinion: Gondolas Distract From the Realities of Transit

Gondolas seem to find their way into the public transit investment conversation again and again over the years, taking up space and air that could be devoted to more substantive issues of investment, maintenance, and operation.

April 11 - Streetsblog USA

BART Train

Can Public Transit Run on Solar Power?

California's Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) has recently been exploring ways to power its system using renewable energy sources, but is it really possible to power one of the state's "top 10 power consumers" with alternative energy?

April 11 - Doggerel

Mero Los Angeles

Best Fuel to Power Buses: Renewable Natural Gas or Battery-Electric?

Next month the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Authority will decide what type of buses to purchase to replace 1,000 aging diesel buses. Two op-eds in the Los Angeles Daily News present alternative viewpoints.

April 11 - Los Angeles Daily News

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Senior Manager Operations, Urban Planning

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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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

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Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.