Cuts in MTA staff in subway stations leave transit riders lost, feeling unsafe. Vendors and repair staff are reluctantly picking up the slack.
"Subway station agents, once mandatory for selling tokens, have suffered a slow road toward obsolescence. Booth closings began earlier this decade, after transitofficials decided they were an antiquated antecedent to MetroCards and their colorful kiosks.
But riders said they liked having the agents around, particularly at night as a deterrent against crime. A compromise plan in 2005 reoriented the job toward customer service, placing some clerks outside the booths to better assist riders. Now that program is being wiped out."
FULL STORY: Cuts in M.T.A. Subway Station Agents Leave Riders Worried

Rethinking Redlining
For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

Montreal Mall to Become 6,000 Housing Units
Place Versailles will be transformed into a mixed-use complex over the next 25 years.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Santa Clara County Dedicates Over $28M to Affordable Housing
The county is funding over 600 new affordable housing units via revenue from a 2016 bond measure.

Why a Failed ‘Smart City’ Is Still Relevant
A Google-backed proposal to turn an underused section of Toronto waterfront into a tech hub holds relevant lessons about privacy and data.

When Sears Pioneered Modular Housing
Kit homes sold in catalogs like Sears and Montgomery Ward made homeownership affordable for midcentury Americans.
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.
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions