On Wednesday, a four-story building that was being demolished in downtown Philadelphia collapsed on top of a neighboring store, killing one person and injuring several people. According to Inga Saffron, the city bears some responsibility.
"The block of Market Street where two buildings collapsed today is not just one of the most blighted stretches remaining in Center City; it is a block where blight was ignored for decades by successive city administrations," says Saffron, architecture critic for The Philadelphia Inquirer. She describes the property's trail of seedy owners and the questionable demolition practices that likely led to this week's tragedy.
"Joseph Sulvetta, an architect who works nearby, said he always wondered about the quality of the demolition work. 'It wasn't the highest skilled demolition crew,' he said. 'They took off the Forum marquee without shutting down the street. It was a couple of guys with sledge hammers.'"
"I said to myself, 'This doesn't look safe'," he said. "But I knew they had gotten a permit and I assumed L&I was on top of it."
FULL STORY: Owner, city ignored blighted blocks for decades

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

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

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

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Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.

Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan
Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.

Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding
The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.
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