For an effective, low-cost alternative to San Francisco’s bank-breaking street parking program, look no further than Seattle.
Seattle’s SeaPark, Eric Jaffe writes, bears some similarities to the San Francisco initiative. In both cities, public authorities adjust parking rates by location in order to regulate occupancy. But while San Francisco monitors occupancy in real time and changes rates on a block-by-block basis, SeaPark operates on a neighborhood scale.
Nonetheless, the program has born fruit, with its April 2013 occupancy numbers coming close to pre-established targets. The best part? The cost of basic operations for SeaPark has not risen above $1.2 million a year since the program began.
Read the full story: How Seattle Transformed Parking Without Spending a Fortune
San Francisco ‘Best-Performing Metro’ for VMT, Traffic Reduction
The city saw a 13 percent drop in miles driven per capita in the last five years.
Top 5 US Cities for Office-to-Residential Conversions
As more and more cities look to adapt vacant office buildings into homes, a new analysis from Urban Institute says some cities will benefit more than others.
Cargo Bike Pilot Reduces Emissions by 30%
The program deployed electric cargo bikes in a small Seattle neighborhood to test the effectiveness of replacing delivery trucks with lighter vehicles in the last mile of delivery.
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.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Seattle passes record-breaking transit services expansion
Proposition 1 will double the city’s transit tax to add 95,000 more bus trips and preserve 180,000 bus trips annually.
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