After months of pounding by the media for cost overruns and its contract to rebuild Iraq, construction giant Bechtel is warmly profiled by the L.A. Times.
"Seven weeks ago, Bechtel won a secret, invitation-only U.S. government contract to rebuild Iraq... It's nation-building on a scale never before attempted by the U.S. government, much less a single company. The spotlight has been intense, with criticism surfacing in the media and in the streets... 'Bechtel is one of the great creations of California in the 20th century, like Stanford University, like Kaiser Permanente, like Apple Computer,' says state historian Kevin Starr. 'It's part of the establishment, part of the way America organizes itself.' The Bechtel family, whose net worth is estimated by Forbes magazine at $3.2 billion, continues to not only own but run the company."
Thanks to Chris Steins
FULL STORY: A Quiet Ambition at Work

Florida Considers Legalizing ADUs
Current state law allows — but doesn’t require — cities to permit accessory dwelling units in single-family residential neighborhoods.

HUD Announces Plan to Build Housing on Public Lands
The agency will identify federally owned parcels appropriate for housing development and streamline the regulatory process to lease or transfer land to housing authorities and nonprofit developers.

Has President Trump Met His Match?
Doug Ford, the no-nonsense premier of Canada's most populous province, Ontario, is taking on Trump where it hurts — making American energy more expensive.

OKC Approves 7.2 Miles of New Bike Lanes
The city council is implementing its BikeWalkOKC plan, which recommends new bike lanes on key east-west corridors.

Preserving Houston’s ‘Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing’
Unsubsidized, low-cost rental housing is a significant source of affordable housing for Houston households, but the supply is declining as units fall into disrepair or are redeveloped into more expensive units.

The Most Popular Tree on Google?
Meet Rodney: the Toronto tree getting rave reviews.
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.
Florida Atlantic University
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service