Following the Rebuild by Design competition, which awarded $920 million in June, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced another $1 billion competition for innovative resilience projects in communities recently struck by disasters.
Will Doig reports on the new competition: "Called the National Disaster Resilience Competition, the initiative puts $1 billion up for grabs to the 67 communities that suffered a Presidentially Declared Major Disaster from 2011 to 2013. The money will fund “the implementation of innovative resilience projects to better prepare communities for future storms and other extreme events.”
"All entrants must tie their project proposals directly back to the catastrophe from which they’re recovering — for instance, an applicant from Joplin, Missouri would have to submit an idea linked to the tornados that devastated that city in 2011. Approximately $180 million of the $1 billion is reserved for places affected by Hurricane Sandy specifically. It’s unclear how the remaining $820 million will be divvied up."
Read the full story: HUD Announces $1 Billion Competition for New Disaster Recovery Ideas
Checking on the Status of Rebuild by Design
The hoopla has subsided surrounding nearly $1 billion awarded by HUD to fund coastal resilience projects on the Atlantic Coast, but the work of implementing the winning Rebuild by Design projects has continued.
Seven Brilliant Projects Keeping New Orleans Safe from Stormwater
20 years post Katrina, New Orleans has shored up and reinvented itself to absorb millions upon millions of gallons of stormwater. Their success holds lessons for landscape architects all over the world.
In a Warmer, Wetter and More Disaster-prone World: “Nature is the Greatest Designer”
A conversation with the American Society of Landscape Architects’ CEO Torey Carter-Conneen and board president Kona Gray.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
‘Going backwards:’ Baltimore mayor, students rally against state's transit funding plan
Maryland's proposed six-year plan provides no funding for Baltimore’s BMORE bus program and reduces its road maintenance funding.
Detroit to transform waterfront with $2.2 billion investment
Developers will convert about 18 acres of unused parking lot space into civic spaces.
Newsom vetoes high-speed rail supervision bill after agency receives condemnatory audit
The audit found the CHSRA approved almost $600,000 in unallowable travel expenses.
Nation sees first electric plane-boat hybrid take off in public demo
The Viceroy Seaglider can fly at speeds of 180mph for up to 180 miles.
One of nation’s poorest counties to receive $6 billion data center
The developers estimate the project will create 200 permanent jobs and 1,000 temporary construction jobs.
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 Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello