With a new rail plan, the Seattle region's public transit agency invents a new way to make transit developers engage the community.
Sound Transit, the Seattle region's public transit agency, had a problem. "In the early 1990s, Seattle politicians insisted on routing [a rail line] through the Rainier Valley as a way to spur economic development." Instead, the line would have displaced "a number of small, predominantly immigrant- and minority-owned businesses that were already springing up in the area." Protests ensued, prompting Sound Transit to try a "best value procurement" approach, asking "the five general contractors vying for the Rainier Valley work to submit bids that meet social goals as well as financial ones. Consequently, the contractors have spent many months and hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to show that they can 'be a good neighbor' and 'promote community confidence'...Other criteria, namely community-outreach and workforce-diversity programs, seem designed to create goodwill in the Rainier Valley." One company even "sought out every community business it could possibly involve in the project, from auto body garages that could change tires to noodle shops that could supply workers with lunch."
Thanks to David Gest
FULL STORY: All Aboard the Love Train
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
Planning for Accessibility: Proximity is More Important than Mobility
Accessibility-based planning minimizes the distance that people must travel to reach desired services and activities. Measured this way, increased density can provide more total benefits than increased speeds.
World's Largest Wildlife Overpass In the Works in Los Angeles County
Caltrans will soon close half of the 101 Freeway in order to continue construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing near Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County.
Eviction Looms for Low-Income Tenants as Rent Debt Rises
Nonprofit housing operators across the country face almost $10 billion in rent debt.
Brightline West Breaks Ground
The high-speed rail line will link Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area.
Colorado Bans No-Fault Evictions
In most cases, landlords must provide a just cause for evicting tenants.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
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.