This week, vacancies opened at the top of transportation departments in America's second and third largest cities. Meanwhile, one of the most influential and well respected transportation leaders may soon be out of a job. Let the courtship begin!
The ink had hardly dried on outgoing LADOT head Jaime De La Vega's resignation letter before the Los Angeles Times began asking if New York City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan would be the right candidate to take his place. Sadik-Khan is presumed to be leaving her post when Mayor Bloomberg's tenure ends.
"If only there were a vacancy for her to fill in some other large U.S. city that badly needs her bold vision and drive to recover wasted street space and to enhance wider use and greater safety for cyclists and pedestrians and well as cars and buses," hints Robert Greene. "Some city like, say, Los Angeles – which just happens to have an opening for the position of general manager of the Department of Transportation. L.A.’s current transportation chief, Jaime De La Vega, is leaving the post."
But hold on Mr. Greene, Los Angeles may have some competition. On Friday, Gabe Klein announced that he was stepping down as Chicago's Transportation Commissioner to return to the private sector. How long will it be before the Chicago Tribune publishes its own Sadik-Khan love letter?
Read the full story: Could NYC's 'wacko nutso' Janette Sadik-Khan be right for L.A.?
The Dream Team Behind America's Transportation Revolution
In the first of a five-part series, Angie Schmitt pays tribute to three "visionary bureaucrats" who are changing the face of transportation in the United States.
Learning loss and urban schools, part 2
Did test scores in progressive cities drop more post-COVID than test scores in moderate ones?
2020 Population Growth Rates for the 50 Biggest U.S. Cities
The Census Bureau released new data on May 27 that includes the first four months of the pandemic. Seattle tops the growth rate at 2.2% from July 1, 2019, to July 1, 2020, while Baltimore and San Francisco land at the bottom with -1.4%.
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