While so many cities struggle to overcome irrational and uninformed opinions in debates about transportation systems, Edmonton is in the midst of a conversation with good questions and no right or wrong answers.
Jarrett Walker calls attention to a "great debate" regarding transit, which, unlike so many debates on transportation, involves some excellent questions about cities and mobility: "how to balance the ridership goals of transit with the competing coverage goals, where 'coverage' means 'respond to every neighborhood's social-service needs and/or sense of entitlement to transit even if the result is predictably low-ridership service.'"
Walker is picking up on coverage of this very same debate by Elise Stolte, currently taking place in Edmonton. Walker provides links to Stolte's ongoing and varied coverage of the debate, drawing good reviews from Walker: "Throughout, the Journal's Elise Stolte has taken a tone of genuine curiousity [sic] '"So, will you help me think this through?') in an argument where there are no right or wrong positions, only different priorities and visions to be balanced. Is your city having this conversation clearly?"
Read the full story: Edmonton: what a great transit debate looks like
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.
Chicago voters approve permanent festival grounds, penalty for vacant property owners
Currently, major summer and fall festivals take over public parks for weeks at a time, drawing criticism from nearby residents
NYC votes to cut outdoor dining red tape, speed up permitting
New York City also voted to allow the Department of Transportation to begin work on urgent projects before notifying elected officials.
California appears to reject Prop. 45
The proposition would have expanded the projects that qualify for a streamlined environmental review, effectively paring down the California Environmental Quality Act.
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
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority