It's time to start steering farm subsidies to small-scale and more sustainable agricultural operations within the nation's metropolitan regions, argues Neal Pierce.
"The famed Wal-Mart slogan notwithstanding...lower prices for consumers often incur alarming costs in terms of transportation, congestion, air pollution and security. 'What happens if your food supply chain is trucks that have to travel 2,000 miles? And then diesel prices triple, or there's a security issue? Or you're relying on such a few huge meat-processing factories and there's a tainted meat problem? How secure is that?' The smart regions...will be those that get their act together to promote local food production, a critical step in a perilous global economy to bolster physical health, conserve open lands, save dollars and assure new self-sufficiency."
Thanks to Michael Dudley
FULL STORY: Time is ripe for urban agriculture

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall
A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work
Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle
Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.
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