While the decades long effort to augment and improve New York's atrocious Penn Station have stalled, D.C. is moving ahead with plans to expand Union Station and redevelop the land above its tracks. Fred A. Bernstein looks at the two projects.
First the good news: with the purchase of the air rights over Union Station's train yard by developer Akridge, a project to build a 3 million
square-foot mixed use development and build "a vast new, glass-roofed train shed" adjacent to the elegant Daniel Burnham-designed station seem set to proceed.
A 3-hour Acela train ride to the north, "plans for replacing New York's Penn Station, the famously disgraceful
hole under Madison Square Garden, with a more respectable facility in
the Farley Post Office building on the West Side of Eighth Avenue-first
proposed by Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan in 1993-are in limbo," writes Bernstein.
While there is a modicum of good news at Penn Station, where a $148 million contract
has been awarded to "create street entrances to an
existing concourse under the steps of the post office... the station itself, once designed by David Childs
of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill with a luminous ticketing hall in the
courtyard of the old post office building, is still on hold."
"But even moving Amtrak's operations to a new Moynihan Station wouldn't
help 90 percent of the commuters who use Penn Station every day," notes Bernstein. "The
only way to create a new train station on that site would be to move the
Garden-and right now, the Dolan family, owners of the arena, are happy
where they are...Meanwhile, the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority (yet another stakeholder) has hired the Los
Angeles office of AECOM to undertake a $7.7 million study of ways of
making the existing Pennsylvania Station less ghastly-called Penn
Station Vision-a strong sign that the station won't be replaced anytime
soon."
FULL STORY: A Tale of Two Stations

Eugene Ends Parking Minimums
In a move that complies with a state law aimed at reducing transportation emissions, Eugene amended its parking rules to eliminate minimum requirements and set maximum parking lot sizes.

How Paris, Texas Became a ‘Unicorn’ for Rural Transit
A robust coalition of advocates in the town of 25,000 brought together the funding and resources to launch a popular bus service that some residents see as a mobility lifeline—and a social club.

San Diegans at Odds Over ‘Granny Towers’
A provision in the city’s ADU ordinance allows developers to build an essentially unlimited number of units on single-family lots.

San Francisco Approves Zoning Reforms to Avoid ‘Builder’s Remedy’
The county board of supervisors voted to approve zoning changes that bring it closer to compliance with state housing mandates.

Where Are Millennials Moving to?
As the housing crisis rages on, four U.S. states are seeing high levels of new migration from young and middle-aged workers.

California Cities Cite Historic Preservation to Block Development
Are some cities using historic designations disingenuously?
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
Park City Municipal Corporation
National Capital Planning Commission
City of Santa Fe, New Mexico
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.