"We're investing in walkability," always sounds like an encouraging tagline from local governments...or does it?
"When political leadership justifies an expenditure of millions of dollars by saying it will make a place more walkable and yet the completed project, even generously assessed, fails to meet even one of the ten steps towards achieving walkability, it deserves scrutiny."
"If we’re not going to pursue walkability in a meaningful, systemic way based on the principles that actually deliver results, and we have the data available showing that pedestrian lip service in car dependent places has no appreciable impact on property values, then exactly why are we — or any of the countless places around the country doing similar projects — spending millions of dollars anyways?"
"Your guess is as good as mine."
Scott Doyon lays out a case in point in South Dekalb County, Georgia, for scrutiny through a 10-point Walkable City lens.
Read the full story: Walkability: Good money after bad
'Texas' Main Street' gets a multimodal glow-up
Congress Avenue in Austin is undergoing a major renovation to receive bike lanes and upgraded pedestrian infrastructure.
What the fall of earth's largest pre-industrial city can teach us about urban sprawl
Angkor was a low-density metropolis. It lasted six centuries, until it could no longer maintain its infrastructure in a changing climate. Today, it offers planners a sobering warning about the risks of dispersed urban living.
Underground Power Lines, Reinforced Water Systems — Four Ways to Fireproof LA
A new UCLA report highlights strategies to strengthen Los Angeles’s water and power systems amid growing climate threats.
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.
US buildings threatened, destroyed by fires set to triple by 2060
Researchers found a high fire risk for socioeconomically vulnerable neighborhoods in the American West.
LA residents may be allowed to paint their own crosswalks
Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky put out a motion instructing the Los Angeles Department of Public Transportation to study the feasibility of allowing volunteers to paint crosswalks.
Dallas moves to overhaul its zoning code
The city's zoning reform will allow more multi-family and mixed-use developments.
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