The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy has launched a new campaign "to help cities confront an epidemic of insolvency and restore the capacity for local governments to provide basic services and plan for the future."
The Municipal Fiscal Health campaign, announced recently by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, focuses on the structural elements of the fiscal stress prohibiting many municipalities from investing in critical infrastructure, like sewers, roads, and levees. A post on the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy website explains more about the campaign, organizing its presentation around six "key areas": 1) Intersection of Planning and Public Finance, 2) Land-Based Municipal Revenues, 3) Multi-Level Governance, 4) Monitoring Fiscal Health and Local Transparency, 5) Capital Accounts and Infrastructure Investment, and 6) Unfunded Obligations.
George W. McCarthy, president and CEO of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, also penned an article for Citiscope that explains the campaign's forthcoming push at the UN-HABITAT global summit, Habitat III, in Quito Ecuador in October 2016. In the article, McCarthy argues that matters of financing should be a more prominent part of the planning and land use conversation—in the United States and around the world.
One specific recommendation, among others, included in the article: "planners need to be trained in public finance so that they can design projects that are financially feasible, in coordination with public finance efforts. This allows for key investments to be better timed and for a full-cost accounting of projects to be carried out, so that maintenance expenses are built in from the beginning."
FULL STORY: Promoting Municipal Fiscal Health

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

In Urban Planning, AI Prompting Could be the New Design Thinking
Creativity has long been key to great urban design. What if we see AI as our new creative partner?

Making Shared Micromobility More Inclusive
Cities and shared mobility system operators can do more to include people with disabilities in planning and operations, per a new report.

Car Designs Make it Harder to See Pedestrians
Blind spots created by thicker pillars built to withstand rollover crashes are creating dangerous conditions for people outside vehicles.

Cal Fire Chatbot Fails to Answer Basic Questions
An AI chatbot designed to provide information about wildfires can’t answer questions about evacuation orders, among other problems.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie