Public Health
Gov. Gavin Newsom pleased environmentalists by doing what his predecessor, Gov. Jerry Brown, refused – halting all new oil and gas fracking and placing a moratorium on another extraction method linked to a massive oil spill in Kern County.
Los Angeles Times
Blog post
Brian Stone of the Georgia Institute of Technology writes about a recent article he co-authored in the Journal of Planning Education and Research.
A writer in Toronto imagines how the city would be evaluated according to a "Run Score"—a fast-paced version of the Walk Score.
Spacing Toronto
An experiment in round-the-clock public bathroom access has proven successful, and San Francisco is expanding the program.
San Francisco Chronicle
A news study raises questions about the public health effects of the widespread availability of a ride enabled by companies like Uber and Lyft—while it's easier to avoid drunk driving, it's also easier to drink.
The Economist
The particulate pollution released by automobile travel can carry carcinogens to the brain, according to new research.
The Guardian
California is being forced to reckon with numerous negative public health outcomes caused by wildfires.
The Conversation
The world is noisier than ever, and the long-term effects of exposure are serious. Still, noise pollution isn’t considered a legitimate environmental hazard.
The Atlantic
A researcher at the University of Sydney in Australia offers three recommendations for planners to better negotiate the real world of politics and governance to help create healthier communities.
The Conversation
The reforestation of Detroit has become a problem for allergy and asthma sufferers in the area.
Undark Magazine
Toxic algae is in the news again, so it's a good time to learn as much as possible about the environmental threat that is likely to be a reoccurring theme in the era of climate change.
Los Angeles Times
Most of the reasons street trees are sometimes unpopular with residents are either untrue or can be mitigated.
PlanPhilly
Philadelphia isn't the first city to deal with a Hepatitis A outbreak after wavering on the question of whether to deploy public bathrooms and hygiene stations
PlanPhilly
On Tuesday night, the City Council of Berkeley, Calif., unanimously voted to ban natural gas infrastructure from new buildings starting next year, the first city in the U.S. to pass such an ordinance. Fifty cities in the state could be next.
San Francisco Chronicle
President Trump made good on his promise last October to lift the E15 ban in time for the summer driving season. Not mentioned by the Des Moines Register are the downsides to allowing the higher ethanol blend to be sold during the summer, e.g., smog.
Los Angeles Times
Thanks to legislation by Sen. Scott Wiener passed last year, San Francisco will apply a new tool to force treatment on some homeless, mentally ill people who refuse it, but it's limited to five people annually. A new Wiener bill would expand it.
The Washington Post
A new zoning code in Baltimore will reduce the number of liquor stores in the city in hopes of reducing the violent crime rate. Will there be unintended consequences?
Shelterforce Magazine
Re-evaluating the role of planning in creating, and reversing, disturbing public health outcomes, like asthma rates among African-Americans in Philadelphia.
Next City
Road safety advocates, particularly those who promote walking and biking, have long understood the importance of language, such as using "crash" rather than "accident." Two new media studies shed more light on bias in media coverage of crashes.
Outside Online
Richard Florida cites new research to argue that car culture and car oriented communities are the main culprits in the unhealthy lifestyles of U.S. school children.
CityLab
