Chicago Mayor Rah Emanuel and the Metropolitan Planning Council announced the "Our Great Rivers" plan this week.

Good urban planning can make you smile," begins an article by Blair Kamin reviewing the "Our Great Rivers" plan, recently released by the Metropolitan Planning Council.
The 41-page plan "comes with a headline-generating goal," writes Kamin: "Make the now-polluted rivers so clean that people will be able to swim in them by 2030."
Among the plan's "bold strokes," as described by Kamin, an idea "to create parks in rivers, not just alongside them":
Non-navigable stretches of the rivers, including the South Side's notorious Bubbly Creek and the north branch of the Chicago River east of Goose Island, could be remade into "instream parks" planted with wetlands vegetation and dotted with wildlife.
In addition to Kamin's review of the rivers plan, Leonor Vivanco provides a traditional news report, describing results of the 18-month planning process that produced "Our Great Rivers."
FULL STORY: New rivers plan: Bold strokes and big challenges

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

Study: Maui’s Plan to Convert Vacation Rentals to Long-Term Housing Could Cause Nearly $1 Billion Economic Loss
The plan would reduce visitor accommodation by 25% resulting in 1,900 jobs lost.

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

Waymo Gets Permission to Map SF’s Market Street
If allowed to operate on the traffic-restricted street, Waymo’s autonomous taxis would have a leg up over ride-hailing competitors — and counter the city’s efforts to grow bike and pedestrian on the thoroughfare.

Parklet Symposium Highlights the Success of Shared Spaces
Parklets got a boost during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the concept was translated to outdoor dining programs that offered restaurants a lifeline during the shutdown.

Federal Homelessness Agency Places Entire Staff on Leave
The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness is the only federal agency dedicated to preventing and ending homelessness.
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