Eminent domain -- even to build much-needed schools -- has become a political tool, and not a planning tool in New Haven.
"New Haven needs improved schools. But the 10-year, $1 billion school construction and renovation program looks suspiciously like a case of the city's auctioning off large portions of itself mainly to procure hundreds of millions of dollars from the state. Developers, contractors, architects, and school administrators all benefit nicely, but neighborhood well-being and sound planning principles are almost entirely ignored.... The mayor has failed to give the professionals in the City Plan Department the authority to make sure the planning of each new or expanded school enhances, rather than detracts from, its neighborhood."
Thanks to The Practice of New Urbanism
Read the full story: IS CITY SERVED WELL BY SCHOOL BUILDING PROGRAM? NO: Neighborhoods pay price
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.
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.
Housing is the top priority of Seattle’s sole new councilmember
Jenks campaigned on building 1,000 new units of affordable housing.
New tax cuts may slash $1.5 billion in funding for Miami transit, public parks
Amendment 3 will save Miami-Dade residents homeowners $2,700 in 2028.
Arizona, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania hope to finally advance climate goals post-midterms
The three states have spent years under Republican or divided control.
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
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority