While Pictometry's new mapping technology is being used for public safety, it's also being used by building officials who don't have to leave the office to see who's building without a permit.
"Instead of just the straight-down views that distant satellites gather, a small company called Pictometry International has developed an oblique-imaging, geo-spatial system to snap vast swaths of America's varied landscape at a 40-degree angle from a few thousand feet in the air...
...So far, the six-year-old company has mapped most of the nation's big cities and 140 of the 3,200 counties where 30 percent of Americans live. Urban and rural zones encompassing 80 percent of the population will be shot by the end of next year, as well as big chunks of Canada, Latin America, Europe and beyond, it said.
'I haven't found any city department that hasn't been able to use the system and make their job a little easier,' Marino said. 'As with everything else, budgets are very tight and you have to do more with the same amount of people or less.' "
Read the full story: Aerial Imaging Swoops Low Down
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Data reveals that NYC’s bet on congestion pricing has paid off
After almost two years of the program, reports show positive impacts on traffic and air quality and no disruptions to parking.
HUD modernizes 50-year-old manufactured housing framework
The Next Generation Manufactured Housing Action Plan establishes new energy-efficiency standards for manufactured homes, and new guidelines for anchoring them.
Boston connects suburbs to the city with 5 free bus routes
The city will launch the new routes in 2027, and offer them for at least three years.
Who pays when a remote Alaska village can no longer stay?
A year after ex-Typhoon Halong, the struggle for two communities to find safer ground has become part of a national debate over who should bear the costs of the climate crisis.
Florida could lose billions in funding for infrastructure, parks
If Amendment 3 passes, Miami-Dade would lose about $445 million annually by fiscal year 2028-29.
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.
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
County of Mendocino
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Montrose County
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority