‘Living Streets’ lets residents apply for three types of temporary or semi-permanent street closures.

A revived open streets program in Austin, Texas, now named Living Streets, will offer neighborhood groups three options for closing streets to car traffic, reports James Rambin in Austin Towers.
The first option, the ‘block party,’ lets residents close a single block for up to 24 hours on a designated day. Healthy Streets, meanwhile, creates an indefinite closure of three to four blocks using semi-permanent fixtures, similar to the interventions used during the pandemic. According to the city’s website, “After selecting resident-led applications for implementation, City staff will install and maintain semi-permanent partial street closure treatments that discourage motor vehicle traffic and provide more space for walking, biking, and rolling.”
The third option, a new program called Play Streets, lets residents “close a single block for up to 12 hours a week on up to three chosen days of the week for use as a play and gathering space for kids and families.”
Rambin notes that “These three approaches still allow local traffic and don’t reduce access for emergency vehicles or other normal street services like trash collection or deliveries.” The program calls for 60 percent approval from residents on the affected blocks.
FULL STORY: Austin’s ‘Living Streets’ Could Make Your Neighborhood Walkable Again

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

Opinion: California’s SB 79 Would Improve Housing Affordability and Transit Access
A proposed bill would legalize transit-oriented development statewide.

Record Temperatures Prompt Push for Environmental Justice Bills
Nevada legislators are proposing laws that would mandate heat mitigation measures to protect residents from the impacts of extreme heat.

Downtown Pittsburgh Set to Gain 1,300 New Housing Units
Pittsburgh’s office buildings, many of which date back to the early 20th century, are prime candidates for conversion to housing.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Clanton & Associates, Inc.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service