The governor of North Carolina has called on a state grant program to dedicate more funding to encourage job growth in rural areas.
"Gov. Mike Easley wants a nonprofit group tasked with overseeing $600 million in public money to be more aggressive in helping rural areas win jobs."
"Recent grants included $150,000 to help create an East Coast Drag Racing Hall of Fame Museum in Vance County and $1.5 million to N.C. State University to build a pilot plant that can convert sweet potatoes, switchgrass and loblolly pines into ethanol."
"Those in rural areas say that Golden LEAF can be instrumental in helping them."
"Elizabeth City, for instance, got a $250,000 grant for airport improvements that benefited a defense contractor's expansion. DRS-Tamsco, which upgrades and overhauls large planes, has hired more than 200 workers."
"'It's real important, especially for a small community like ours, because we have to put multiple sources of funding together,' said Elizabeth City manager Rich Olson. 'We would always like to see them be more aggressive.'"
FULL STORY: Help for rural areas urged
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.
Can We Please Give Communities the Design They Deserve?
Often an afterthought, graphic design impacts everything from how we navigate a city to how we feel about it. One designer argues: the people deserve better.
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)