The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

The N.Y.C. Free Parking Giveaway Needs to Stop
Free street parking in much of New York City means lost revenue, but it also affects the urban landscape and the quality of people’s lives. So how much is all that street space really worth?

Updated: Journal Article Calls for the End of Single-Family Zoning
An article published by the Journal of the American Planning Association argues that single-family zoning "exacerbates inequality and undermines efficiency," and should be eliminated entirely.

Report Documents Safety Concerns on Boston's T
Safety is not the priority at the T, according to a report released today.

Light Rail Repair Project Falls Short of Promises in Los Angeles
The former Blue Line, now the A Line, with service from Log Beach to Los Angeles, was shut down in segments for ten months (originally scheduled for eight) for repairs. The weeks since the reopening have been marred spotty, slow service.

Use of Private Surveillance Grows With the Help of Cheap AI Tech
As the technology gets cheaper, AI surveillance systems are gaining popularity in some parts of the country, like the neighborhood of Magnolia in Seattle.

New Oil and Gas Drilling in California May Be Subject to Moratorium
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.

San Diego Could Eliminate Height Limits Near Transit
San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer is following up on an idea first pitched during a State of the City address, but with a few teaks.

Public Art and Resilience Planning
A neighborhood in New Orleans, badly damaged after Hurricane Katrina, is providing a test bed for an innovative new approach to urban planning.

Infrastructure Policy Reform, From the Ground Up
Brookings provides a manifesto, of sorts, to suggest an entirely new path forward on infrastructure policy.

E-ZPass Could Limit the Effectiveness of NYC's Congestion Charge
The known quantity of the EZ Pass system could prevent innovations in congestion pricing that would prevent the challenges since London enacted a similar policy.

Supreme Court Could Decide on Homeless Public Sleeping
The Supreme Court will be considering for the first time whether the Constitution gives homeless people a right to sleep on the sidewalk.

Mapping Portland's 'Rose Lane Vision' Bus Priority Program
It's a draft map, but it's a big, bold draft map.

New Train Station in North Bay Brings Commuters One Step Closer to S.F.
The new Larkspur Station on the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) system brings commuters much closer to a ferry across the bay.

Report: 'Racialized Displacement' Followed Rezonings in New York City
The rezonings in question occurred during the Bloomberg administration, but advocates are seizing on the relevance of that experience to the rezonings of the de Blasio administration.

Homebuilders Aren't Keeping Pace With Millennial Demand
Places with a lot of Millennials are building homes, just not enough to keep pace with the large number of Millennials coming of homebuying age.

'Gentle Density' to Save Neighborhoods
Cities looking to follow Minneapolis's lead in overturning the status quo of exclusionary zoning should consider "gentle density," according to this article.

In Defense of Pilot Projects
An initial lack of success of transportation pilot projects isn't always an indicator of long-term viability in a rapidly shifting transportation landscape, according to this article.

The High Cost of Sprawl
Low density sprawl stretches the tax dollars of every resident. That fact could be used to support plans for more infill density, according to this article set in the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba.

School Proximity and Speeding Tickets: Still Can't Win Safety Improvements
A loss for traffic safety advocates in Seattle.

Queens Losing its Place as a Home for Immigrants
As non-owner-occupied homes increase in number in Queens neighborhoods, it's becoming harder for immigrants to afford a first home.
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