Two of the most architecturally significant builders were commissioned by... "cost-conscious government bureaucrats."
"Rather than being commissioned by the wealthy trustees of arts institutions, [two of the most significant buildings to rise this year in the United States] were financed by cost-conscious government bureaucrats who grasped the role that architecture plays in the public welfare.
The two buildings, the Seattle Central Library and the Caltrans District 7 Headquarters in downtown Los Angeles, don't approach the sublime compositional delicacy of, say, the new Museum of Modern Art, and neither is as wildly exuberant as last year's Walt Disney Concert Hall. But they might have done more to drag architecture out of its high-culture ghetto."
Thanks to Profession of New Urbanism Listserv
Read the full story: Civic Boosterism Never Looked So Sexy
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.
Boston has spent millions making the Green Line more accessible — and there’s no end in sight
While the city has invested millions into expanding and adding platforms to the Green Line to make it more accessible, new train cars set to arrive next year will be too tall for disabled passengers to board without raising the current platforms.
Idaho may see an 18% drop in federal surface transit funding — the largest estimated cut in the US
Transit systems in rural communities are much more reliant on federal funding to provide their services.
How ‘post-disaster gentrification’ alters neighborhoods after natural calamities
After hurricanes, fires or other calamities, the original residents of a community are often replaced by younger, wealthier residents.
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.
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
Greater Baltimore Committee
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello