In Portland, up to 400 food stands have sprung up around the city, enlivening underused spaces.
Philip Langdon of New Urban News tours Portland's popular food "carts" - which aren't really carts at all, but small stands. Langdon reports that the carts not only activate dead spaces in the city, they also provide jobs and micro-businesses for a community that suffers from low employment.
Langdon writes, "The explosive growth of food carts runs counter to the usual trend in urban regeneration. Typically when a city center becomes a place where middle- and upper-middle-class people want to spend time, the architectural code of conduct becomes more formal, more carefully constructed. Food carts, with their budget-driven, ad hoc designs, take a city in the opposite direction."
Read the full story: Food carts take the curse off Portland's parking lots
Portland to transform vacant landfill into energy-generating sanctuary
The project will boast hundreds of solar panels, and create jobs in Portland’s renewable energy industry
Transit leaders progress high-speed rail from Portland to Vancouver, B.C.
Washington state officials may reveal feasible routes for the high-speed rail in late 2027.
In two U.S. cities, new technology is rewarding slower driving with a quicker commute
Albuquerque, New Mexico and Portland, Oregon have introduced traffic lights that are red by default, and turn green faster if drivers approach while going at or below the speed limit.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal
Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.
Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states
Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
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 Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority