Want parking reform without tears?

"It helps to have a cartoonist in the city planning department."
That, according to an article by Laura Bliss, is "one of the lessons that Ottawa’s Urban Design Branch learned after city planner Tim Moerman crafted a sweetly goofy animation on that driest of urban topics: minimum parking requirements."
Moerman created the cartoon in support of an effort to educate the public before the city considered reductions in parking minimums. Moerman even sent a post to Planetizen to describe his work, and Eric Jaffe wrote about the cartoon for CityLab.
Since then the city of Ottawa has managed to pass new zoning by-laws that reform the city's parking requirements, "with no opposition at the final public hearings." Moreover, reports Bliss, "New parking-free projects are already coming through the door."
FULL STORY: Parking Reform Cartoon Scores Most Canadian Victory Ever

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.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall
A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work
Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle
Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.
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