James Howard Kunstler writes that for children, there is "no escape from America's car-dependent, cheap-oil fiesta."
The general impoverishment of the public realm has produced for adults an amazing amount of pervasive situational loneliness. Despite the fact that so many Americans own a car there is no place to go, at least no places of casual socializing unrelated to commerce. So the chat rooms and listserves of the Internet are supposed to take the place of actually being somewhere. For children, this trend has been catastrophic because they lack the mobility to use environments designed solely for motoring. This consigns kids either to nebulous low-grade hangouts in the left over scrap places of suburbia or to virtual and heavily commercialized public realms of television and the computer.
Thanks to Keith Schneider
Read the full story: Virtual Is No Refuge From Reality
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.
Atlanta City Council unanimously backs $3.5 billion Beltline light rail project
The resolution was drafted after Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens pulled support for the Atlanta Streetcar extension last year.
SEPTA to bring nearby frequent transit to over 1 million new riders as part of decade-long plan
The agency's Accelerate plan will also bring frequent transit to twice the amount of jobs that are currently located near it.
NYC plants over 18,000 trees, the most new foliage in a decade
Many of the trees were planted in communities vulnerable to extreme heat.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello