Schools are part of, and even anchor communities. Good planning requires schools as part of "Complete Communities". Until this proposal is adopted, school boards often close schools due to funding or liability. This is a possible step forward.
"Their students may have disappeared, but many old schools across Ontario could get a second life as 'community hubs' under a series of proposals presented to the province this week," reports Selena Ross.
"Empty schools aren’t only a pressing issue in Toronto, where the Toronto District School Board has been under immense pressure from the province to consolidate schools and sell underused property, often incurring the wrath of neighbourhoods that don’t want to lose the land and its green space."
Read the full story: Closed Ontario Schools May Be Transformed Into Community Hubs
Los Angeles County Moves to Open Schoolyards to Public Uses
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors just approved a motion to extend and expand an agreement with the L.A. Unified School District for the use of recreational facilities at Walnut Park Elementary School.
Partnering with Schools to Expand Parks Access
The Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation is partnering with over 560 schools to provide students access to the outdoors, nature education, and recreational programming.
Atlanta to Open School Properties as Public Parks
A new pilot program in Atlanta will test a joint-use arrangement that opens public school properties in the evenings and on weekends to provide park space for the public. The effect would be significant.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Northwest rail fans eager for Sept. 30 debut of Amtrak’s Airo fleet
Get ready for that new train smell and more seats. But they won’t go faster or run more frequently on the Cascades route in Washington and Oregon.
Brightline Florida files for bankruptcy
The transit company is over $5 billion in debt.
St. Louis Metro to test if single-car trains can reduce operating costs, maintain rider satisfaction
The pilot program will run from October to spring 2027, and begin with one single-car train operating on Metrolink’s Red and Blue lines.
Pennsylvania is building data centers in abandoned mines
Housing data centers in mines provides an alternative to destroying local forests and may spare residents from data centers’ noise and air pollution.
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
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello