Actually-fake-news site The Onion got a few burns on the world of planning this week. One article satirized the nation's inaction over the state of its infrastructure. The other hit the Brookings Institute where it hurts: the policy recommendations.
"Tossing and turning while the noise continued virtually unabated, the nation was kept up all night by the incessant sound of its creaking infrastructure, sources said Thursday." We know this fake story by The Onion can't be true, and everything is fine with infrastructure: 1) because light show! and 2) because "verbal govt approval"!
Also: "In what is being called the worst environmental disaster in the region’s history, millions of policy proposals gushed into the Black Sea on Thursday after a Brookings Institution think tanker ran aground off the coast of Crimea." Every now and then, The Onion makes policy nerds like us laugh out loud.
FULL STORY: Nation Kept Up All Night By Sound Of Creaking Infrastructure
Friday Funny: The Onion Finds Beauty in the Decay of the Nation's Infrastructure
The Onion is back to satirizing the built environment, this time with a kind of philosophy of despair.
Friday Funny: Squirrelly Passenger Causes UK Train Cancellation
Planetizen’s Friday Funny stories are often satirical, but this nutty story from Reuters is 100 percent genuine.
Friday Funny: Gated Community Doubles Down
The Onion skewers suburbia.
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.
North Texas Transit Leaders Tout Benefits of TOD for Growing Region
At a summit focused on transit-oriented development, policymakers discussed how North Texas’ expanded light rail system can serve as a tool for economic growth.
Using Old Oil and Gas Wells for Green Energy Storage
Penn State researchers have found that repurposing abandoned oil and gas wells for geothermal-assisted compressed-air energy storage can boost efficiency, reduce environmental risks, and support clean energy and job transitions.
Santa Barbara Could Build Housing on County Land
County supervisors moved forward a proposal to build workforce housing on two county-owned parcels.
San Mateo Formally Opposes Freeway Project
The city council will send a letter to Caltrans urging the agency to reconsider a plan to expand the 101 through the city of San Mateo.
A Bronx Community Fights to Have its Voice Heard
After organizing and giving input for decades, the community around the Kingsbridge Armory might actually see it redeveloped — and they want to continue to have a say in how it goes.
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