Provo, UT City Council approves $39.5 million to build citywide fiber-optic system.
After five years of research and preparation, and an epic public meeting, Provo city council members voted 6-1 to approve financing and construction of a citywide fiber-optic network. The network, which would carry video, cable TV, internet, phone services and more, would be built by the city, which would then lease bandwidth to private companies to provide content. Residents in a test area received 139 cable channels and 5 Mbit downloads, for about half the cost of lower-quality service from the private provider Comcast. Bandwidth will also be reserved for traffic coordination, emergency services, and public schools. Some residents and leaders worried that the price tag, $39.5 million, would come out of taxpayers' pockets. However, only one third of residents need to sigh up for the service for the city to break even, and if more residents sign up, the extra revenue will go into the city's general fund. In a test of the system serving 250 homes, 50% of residents subscribed despite little advertising.
Thanks to Peter Christensen
FULL STORY: iProvo foe will now embrace the service

How Sharrows Became Cycling’s Most Hated Symbol
Originally designed as a low-cost way to encourage safer road sharing between bikes and cars, the sharrow has become a symbol of the lack of commitment to protected bike infrastructure in many cities.

Keanu Reeves Set to Play Daniel Burnham in ‘The Devil in the White City’
Planning is going to get a new level of star power as a limited series adaptation of The Devil in the White City gets ready for television screens in 2024.

Marrying Urban Identity and Economic Prosperity
A new book posits that truly successful communities have a strong economic base and a firmly rooted sense of place.

Urban Design Through a Gender Lens
Building cities to be safe and accessible for women and LGBTQIA+ people has benefits for all users of public space.

Sports Stadiums Bring Few Economic Benefits
While their developers often tout jobs and local economic development as benefits of major stadium projects, research shows these venues often make little impact on local economies.

A How-To for ‘Freeway Fighters’
Ten recommendations for effective freeway removal advocacy.
McKenna
Economic & Planning Systems, Inc.
Kinexus Group
Cohousing Association of the US
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Rail~Volution
Sun City Center Community Association, Inc
City of Mesa
Town of Gilbert, Arizona
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.
Hand Drawing Master Plans
This course aims to provide an introduction into Urban Design Sketching focused on how to hand draw master plans using a mix of colored markers.