The North San Francisco Bay Area has lacked passenger rail for decades—but the process of hiring the staff necessary to operate the line on a daily basis has been complicated by the cost of housing in the area.
"The high cost of housing in Marin and the Bay Area is making it hard for the fledgling SMART commuter rail service to find people to pilot its trains," reports Mark Prado. The
"Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit agency is set to launch service on a 43-mile line stretching from downtown San Rafael to the Santa Rosa Airport later this year," explains Prado, and to recruit engineers, signal technicians, and vehicle maintenance technicians, the agency board recently approved an 11 percent pay increase.
In the region, SMART has to compete with BART, Caltrain, Amtrak, and Altamont Commuter Express—none of which is made easier by the high costs for housing in the region.
FULL STORY: North Bay housing costs have SMART scrambling for engineers
TSA Suggests More Background Checks for Transit Workers
The proposal could make it even harder for short-staffed agencies to attract and hire new employees.
To upzone or not to upzone? Two views on the housing crisis
Allowing more density can increase the housing supply, but does the attendant rise in land prices cancel out the benefits?
Alexandria eviction diversion program will let tenants pay back rent in installments
Eligible tenants will be allowed to make a 10% down payment on the back rent they owe and pay off the rest in installments while remaining in their home.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
Baltimore to break ground on $50 million Transit Priority Project
The project will bring faster bus trips, safer streets and better bike connections to Baltimore.
Airbnb launches $250 million 'last-dollar financing' housing accelerator, makes first investment in Austin
The company will put $6.4 million towards affordable housing development in Texas’ capital.
Guerilla urbanists are building DIY bus stop benches in Chicago
A before-and-after of one of the bus stops with a new bench. The new benches are not officially sanctioned or permitted, but the residents who placed them hope they will be the start of a network of DIY benches across the city.
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.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association