Bert Sperling, who has earned recognition for his lists of "Best Places," responds to questions posed by the readers of the Freakonomics blog.
"Sperling, with a background in accounting and engineering, owned a software company in the mid-1980's. When he spotted a study that ranked Pittsburgh as the best place to live in the U.S., he wrote some software that allowed people to generate ranked lists of places tailored to their preferences. After this system was written up in USA Today, Sperling was asked by Money magazine to compile its first "best places" list."
"He has agreed to field your questions here, so fire away. (Wasilla, anyone?) As with our past Q&A's, we'll keep the comments section open for a few days and then post Sperling's responses in short order."
Dozens of questions have been posted so far, with answers forthcoming in the next several days.
Thanks to Franny Ritchie
Read the full story: Freakonomics blog
Traffic Engineer's Rap Takedown of His Profession
Transportation planner Buff Brown challenges common traffic engineering practices in a rap video which demonstrates how the Engineering Bingo Card of Excuses helps maintain the status quo of street design.
Montana Land Use Reform Overhauls Public Participation Rules
In a bid to streamline housing permits, new state legislation limits public input to the land use planning stage.
Friday Funny: ‘Deregulation Works’
A tongue-in-cheek piece from The Onion calls the disastrous train derailment in Ohio a “deregulation success story.”
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
‘Going backwards:’ Baltimore mayor, students rally against state's transit funding plan
Maryland's proposed six-year plan provides no funding for Baltimore’s BMORE bus program and reduces its road maintenance funding.
Mamdani sent nearly 6,000 pied-à-terre tax warnings to homes that didn’t qualify
A judge has ordered the administration to cancel thousands of pied-à-terre tax notices after it sent 35% of them erroneously.
Newsom vetoes high-speed rail supervision bill after agency receives condemnatory audit
The audit found the CHSRA approved almost $600,000 in unallowable travel expenses.
Nation sees first electric plane-boat hybrid take off in public demo
The Viceroy Seaglider can fly at speeds of 180mph for up to 180 miles.
One of nation’s poorest counties to receive $6 billion data center
The developers estimate the project will create 200 permanent jobs and 1,000 temporary construction jobs.
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.
City of Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello