Felicity Barringer reports on the growing practice of recycling treated wastewater as drinking water in southwestern cities attempting to address diminishing water supplies.
While treated wastewater has a fifty year history of use for irrigation and industrial uses, its use for tap water is spreading, albeit slowly. Through the lens of San Diego's successes with the practice, "where only 12 years ago the City Council recoiled from the toilet-to-tap concept," Barringer examines whether improved technology and education can overcome the "yuck factor" associated with drinking treated wastewater.
Concerns with scarcity and the results of effective educational and outreach campaigns conspired to change opinions in San Diego.
"The change of heart found voice on the editorial page of The San Diego Union-Tribune, a onetime opponent, in an editorial titled 'The Yuck Factor: Get Over It.' That sentiment was echoed in a cartoon on a California public radio blog depicting a dog with its nose in a toilet.
The caption? 'Ten million dogs can't be wrong.'"
FULL STORY: As ‘Yuck Factor’ Subsides, Treated Wastewater Flows From Taps

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.

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

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.

Half of Post-Fire Altadena Home Sales Were to Corporations
Large investors are quietly buying up dozens of properties in Altadena, California, where a devastating wildfire destroyed more than 6,000 homes in January.

Opinion: What San Francisco’s Proposed ‘Family Zoning’ Could Really Mean
Mayor Lurie is using ‘family zoning’ to encourage denser development and upzoning — but could the concept actually foster community and more human-scale public spaces?

Jacksonville Launches First Autonomous Transit Shuttle in US
A fleet of 14 fully autonomous vehicles will serve a 3.5-mile downtown Jacksonville route with 12 stops.
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Planning for Universal Design
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Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
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