Yes! Magazine reports on how cities in North America -- disillusioned with the U.S. federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina -- are seeking their own locally-based solutions to meeting crises and building resiliency.
"The green movement in Cleveland isn't confined to just a few, visible projects. A sustainability mindset has taken root in the city and county governments. Faced with the continuing loss of industrial jobs, officials are realizing that economic development needs to focus on things like alternative energy, resource efficiency, and quality of place.
[In New York City], "All Together Now" has been a pilot program...to scale the emergency preparedness tactics from the family and building level to the block level and eventually the entire city...other major cities in the country are considering the adoption of All Together Now.
'One of the key things we're learning is that we have to strengthen our neighborhoods,' says Gwendolyn Hallsmith, director of Global Community Initiatives, a Montpelier, Vermont-based group that does sustainability planning with cities. 'Because if they don't have inner resiliency, connectivity, communications, there's nothing government can do to help. Government will never be able to be the only response for a disaster like Katrina. We need to depend on each other, too.'
What does it mean to be resilient? According to Hallsmith, it means having 'an adaptive capacity rather than just the skills and training of emergency response...the ability of a system to adapt to change, to be able to respond to disturbances, surprises, shocks, and uncertainty.'"
FULL STORY: After the Storm, Brainstorming Begins
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
San Francisco's School District Spent $105M To Build Affordable Housing for Teachers — And That's Just the Beginning
SFUSD joins a growing list of school districts using their land holdings to address housing affordability challenges faced by their own employees.
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Engineers Gave America's Roads an Almost Failing Grade — Why Aren't We Fixing Them?
With over a trillion dollars spent on roads that are still falling apart, advocates propose a new “fix it first” framework.
The European Cities That Love E-Scooters — And Those That Don’t
Where they're working, where they're banned, and where they're just as annoying the tourists that use them.
Map: Where Senate Republicans Want to Sell Your Public Lands
For public land advocates, the Senate Republicans’ proposal to sell millions of acres of public land in the West is “the biggest fight of their careers.”
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.
Borough of Carlisle
Smith Gee Studio
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)