The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Metro Los Angeles

Riders Are Ditching Buses for Trains Along Metro L.A.'s New Gold Line Extension

As ridership on the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Gold Line light rail line continues to grow, duplicative bus lines are suffering.

April 6 - San Gabriel Valley Tribune

D.C. Metro

D.C. Metro's Recent Controversial Decision: Painting Over Brutalism

Controversy erupted last week in Washington, D.C., after D.C. Metro decided to paint Union Station's vaulted ceilings—a famous icon of the District, it's regional transit system, and the architectural style of Brutalism.

April 6 - WAMU

Slow Turn Box

How New York's New 'Slow Turn Boxes' Work

Slow turn boxes, also known as neckdowns or curb extensions, have been popping up all over New York City as part of an ongoing pilot project.

April 6 - StreetsBlog NYC

New York City's Highest Profile Transit Projects at Risk Despite Trump Assurances

Planning and construction for the new Amtrak Gateway tunnels unders the Hudson River and the next phase of the Second Avenue Subway could grind to a halt under President Trump's proposed budget that substantially cuts capital grants programs.

April 6 - The New York Times

Cleveland Browns

Cleveland Considering Options for Derelict Lakefront Power Plant

A planning consultant hired by FirstEnergy is putting out the first speculative ideas for the future of a contaminated lakefront site of a most demolished power plant.

April 6 - The Cleveland Plain Dealer


Georgia

Lessons From Savannah

Savannah, Georgia is an elegant southern belle of a city. Susan Henderson looks at some of its lessons, along with ideas for future study.

April 6 - PlaceShakers

Green Line

MBTA's Green Line Extension Moving Forward Again

A revised plan to extend the MBTA's Green Line light rail line into Somerville and Medford required approval from the state (approved last May) and the Federal Transit Authority (approved this week).

April 6 - The Boston Globe


Two Brothers Walk to School

Why So Early? School Start Times and Suburban Sprawl

The advent of sprawl coincided with a move toward earlier school start times, prompted by a need to coordinate complicated bussing. If students could walk to school, the problem might disappear.

April 6 - CityLab

San Francisco

Leading San Francisco Architect Picks a Fight With the City's Planning Department

Architects and planners have to work together, as everyone on both sides of the equation knows. Even though the fields often speak the same language, there still seem to be many moments and ideas lost in translation.

April 5 - San Francisco Chronicle

School Buses

Nation's School Districts Struggling to Attract Enough Bus Drivers

As the economy has improved, fewer people are looking for employment as school bus drivers. When fewer buses are available, more students drive to school, brining unwanted environmental risks along for the ride.

April 5 - The Wall Street Journal

Oceanside

BLOG POST

Removing California's Costa-Hawkins Act and the Future of Rent Control

In an attempt to combat prohibitively high housing costs in California, some look to repeal the 1995 state law that limits the power of local rent control ordinances. However, removing those restrictions would likely exaggerate current problems.

April 5 - Reuben Duarte

Vacant Home, Cleveland

Ohio Bans the Use of Plywood to Board Up Vacant Buildings

The state of Ohio is expanding a practice used by the Fannie Mae to counter the negative effects of vacancies and blight.

April 5 - Associated Press via Cincinnati.com

Utah

Provo-Orem Bus Rapid Transit Project Wins Court Battle

A district judge has thrown out a lawsuit challenging local authority to approve an under-construction bus rapid transit project in Utah.

April 5 - The Salt Lake Tribune

Seattle Tunnel Boring

Bertha Finally Breaks On Through (To the Other Side)

The Bertha tunnel boring machine was once stuck under the city of Seattle for more than a year. Now it has reached its goal, four years after it began its journey.

April 5 - Publicola

Surface Parking

Critiquing the First Woonerf in Minneapolis

You be the judge: is this innovative land use in Downtown Minneapolis a woonerf or a glorified parking lot?

April 5 - MinnPost

Mexico Border

A First Look at Proposed Border Wall Designs

The Wall Street Journal received lots of press packages from firms bidding to build the proposed wall between the border of the United States and Mexico. A gallery of renderings—sent in earnest, in protest, or in a crass marketing ploy—follows.

April 5 - The Wall Street Journal

Jacksonville, Florida

Historic Community Reinvestment Act Review: Wells Fargo Receives 'Double Downgrade'

Wells Fargo received an historic "double downgrade" from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) as a result of its Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) examination.

April 5 - Next City

Airport

Population Flight in New York Metro Region and Decline in New York State

New data from the U.S. Census and Empire Center shows that for the first time in a decade, the Empire State lost population. Furthermore, last year only two upstate counties had more residents arrive from other states than leave.

April 5 - New York Post

Salt Lake City Trax and Bike

Debating the Local-Federal Transit Funding Mix

Devolution—or the end of federal funding for local or regional transit projects—is back on the table, thanks to the Trump Administration. Articles in two prominent media outlets debate the idea.

April 4 - The Overhead Wire

Philadelphia

Philadelphia's Freeway Cap Park Almost Fully Funded, Ready to Start Planning

March was a momentous month for the Central Access Philadelphia (CAP) project. The project would build cap over I-95 at Penn's Landing, among other improvements.

April 4 - Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia

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