A new test program to de-pave the city of Baltimore is turning the soil formerly covered by city school playgrounds. The project is aimed at reducing runoff.
Removing pavement, it turns out, is not enough to get rainwater to soak back into the ground. After years of being compacted and covered by asphalt, recently sunlighted grounds are far more effective at absorbing rainwater after a good tilling.
"[T]o make that urban hardpan act more like a natural sponge and cut down on storm-water pollution, city officials are trying out the agricultural process known as 'sub-soiling.'
At Yorkwood Elementary School in Northeast Baltimore this week, a tractor plowed deep into a half-acre patch of playground that until recently had been covered in asphalt. The farm vehicle towed a claw-like contraption with long curved blades that slice far into the packed earth."
FULL STORY: Greening gets down and dirty
Grassroots Dutch Movement Replaces Pavement With Green Space
Neighbors engage in a practice known as “tegelwippen,” picking up paving stones and replacing them with permeable surfaces, often with the support of local governments.
How Capturing Rainwater Can Make Cities Safer, More Resilient
Green infrastructure can help prevent flooding and replenish groundwater supplies, preventing subsidence that makes land sink.
LA’s ‘Spongy’ Infrastructure Captured Almost 9 Billion Gallons of Water
The city is turning away from stormwater management practices that shuttle water to the ocean, building infrastructure that collects and directs it underground instead.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.
San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.
Defunct Pittsburgh Power Plant to Become Residential Tower
A decommissioned steam heat plant will be redeveloped into almost 100 affordable housing units.
Trump Prompts Restructuring of Transportation Research Board in “Unprecedented Overreach”
The TRB has eliminated more than half of its committees including those focused on climate, equity, and cities.
Amtrak Rolls Out New Orleans to Alabama “Mardi Gras” Train
The new service will operate morning and evening departures between Mobile and New Orleans.
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Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
Custer County Colorado
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont