For 30 years, a farmland conservation program in Long Island was able to keep farmers farming land that was becoming increasingly valuable and sought by developers. But now, the land is being bought by developers and is not being farmed.
"But because land in eastern Long Island is so valuable - in some places, developable land sells for as much as $5 million per acre - even land that cannot be developed has increased in price. An acre of farmland that must stay in its natural state now commands as much as $100,000 an acre."
Increasinlgy, "developers buy the land as an amenity for the housing subdivisions they put up around the farmland. The open grassland or fallow parcels raise the prices of homes around them on the East End."
"A homeowners' association or an adjacent homeowner ends up owning the agricultural reserve, neither of which is very likely to lease that land to a farmer, whose pesticides and noisy tractors and farm equipment might spoil an open vista on a tranquil summer afternoon."
FULL STORY: Preserving Land, but Not for Farmers
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
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.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association