The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Pandemic-Era Big City Population Loss More Dramatic Than We Thought
A new analysis indicates that many big cities saw their biggest population declines in at least a decade, with suburbs also showing a slowdown in growth.

Rents Likely To Stay High as Home Sales Market Cools
The Fed’s recent decision to raise interest rates is causing a slowdown in the housing market, but rents are poised to remain high as demand for rental housing continues to outpace supply.

Charlotte Mobility Plan Centers Improved Multimodal Options and Economic Mobility
The city’s newly approved Strategic Mobility Plan highlights the need for better options when it comes to walking, biking, and public transit, setting a goal to reduce driving to half of total trips.

New York Councilmembers Seek Action Against Cashless ‘Fast-Delivery’ Stores
After the city instituted a ban on cashless businesses, calling the model discriminatory against poor New Yorkers who rely on cash transactions, a study found that more than 80 percent of new fast-delivery stores don’t accept cash.

National Park Service Weighs Changes to D.C.’s Beach Drive
The scenic road has been closed to car traffic during the pandemic, but the park service could begin allowing through traffic nine months of the year.

Californians Struggle To Cut Water Use
The state is slowly starting to curb water consumption, but progress has been ‘disappointingly slow’ as water supplies across the West diminish to historic lows.

Dangerous By Design: 2022 Report Analyzes Rising Pedestrian Deaths
The report ranks the most dangerous states and metro areas for pedestrians, who died at higher rates during the pandemic despite reduced driving.

Los Angeles to Test Road Closure Through Scenic Griffith Park
After a driver killed a cyclist on Griffith Park Drive in April, the city of Los Angeles is studying safety upgrades on streets in its famous park. The L.A. Times says the changes are part of a growing movement.

Denver Taking New Applications for Wildly Popular E-Bike Rebate Program
Residents are taking advantage of the city’s rebate program, which offers discounts of up to $1,200 on e-bikes for low-income residents.

TxDOT Recommends a 10-Lane ‘Infrastructure Grave’ in Dallas
Rather than removing the freeway altogether, which the Texas Department of Transportation calls ‘unfeasible,’ the agency recommends burying the road in a billion-dollar, ten-lane trench through the city’s downtown.

St. Paul Landlords Raising Utility Costs To Circumvent Rent Control
After the city passed a rent stabilization ordinance, landlords are reworking leases to include new utility charges, effectively raising rents by as much as 14 percent.

Safety Concerns Driving Riders Away From Transit
Public transit systems in major U.S. cities are struggling to restore their image after rising crime rates led to heightened security concerns among riders.

Charlotte To Consider Fines for Housing Voucher Discrimination
A proposed policy would fine landlords who refuse to rent to voucher recipients, calling it “source of income discrimination.”

California Density Law Didn’t Kill the Single-Family Neighborhood
After the passage of a contentious zoning reform law that encourages ‘light infill’ in single-family neighborhoods, few California households have submitted applications to build extra units, largely due to onerous restrictions imposed by local laws.

Arizona Governor Vetoes Phoenix-Area Transportation Tax Vote, Shocking Local Leaders
Arizona state law requires Maricopa County to request approval from the state before it can send a transportation tax to the voters for approval.

Watch: Mexico’s $10 Billion Rail Line Through the Jungle
YouTube channel B1M takes a trip to the Yucatan Peninsula to examine the risks and the opportunities of Tren Maya—a $10 billion railway under construction to connect the south and southeast corners of the country to tourist destinations.

Advancing Play Equity Through Mobile Recreation
The Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation is offering the Park on the Move program to enable more youth in park-poor communities to play and stay active.

Funding Allocated to Extend Life of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant
In order to to ensure that the lights stay on, the California legislature approved allocating up to $75 million to extend the life of the state's sole remaining nuclear plant and four natural gas powered plants, to the chagrin of environmentalists.

6,000 Acres of Prime Open Space in Los Angeles County Now Protected
The largest undeveloped private property in L.A. County is now part of a protected ecological area that will preserve habitat and expand wildlife corridors between the San Gabriel, Sierra Madre, and Santa Susanna mountains.

High Gas Costs Making a Small Dent in Carbon Emissions
Americans are driving slightly less due to high prices at the pump, but this reduction in driving is only making a small impact on overall U.S. carbon emissions.
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