With 87 total waste-to-energy plants in the U.S., the country is only able to convert 12 percent of its trash to electricity (compared to 38 percent for Germany, for instance). Why is America still sending 55 percent of its trash to landfills?
"So why hasn’t energy recovery become a staple of America’s renewable energy portfolio, as it has elsewhere?" asks Dylan Scott. "After all, it’s earned the endorsement of groups like the American Chemistry Council and the Center for American Progress (CAP). Researchers at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency concluded that burning waste for energy, as the Alexandria plant does, is better for the environment and produces more power than burying it in a landfill and then attempting to extract energy later."
"Advocates blame the negative connotation much of the public has with trash incineration, the deep pockets of the landfill lobby, and the vocal coalition that argues America's goal should be eliminating waste altogether -- not turning it into a business."
FULL STORY: America's Wasting Trash-to-Energy Potential, Supporters Say

Rethinking Redlining
For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

Montreal Mall to Become 6,000 Housing Units
Place Versailles will be transformed into a mixed-use complex over the next 25 years.

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

Santa Clara County Dedicates Over $28M to Affordable Housing
The county is funding over 600 new affordable housing units via revenue from a 2016 bond measure.

Why a Failed ‘Smart City’ Is Still Relevant
A Google-backed proposal to turn an underused section of Toronto waterfront into a tech hub holds relevant lessons about privacy and data.

When Sears Pioneered Modular Housing
Kit homes sold in catalogs like Sears and Montgomery Ward made homeownership affordable for midcentury Americans.
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.
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions