Alaska
Prefabricated, Mixed-Use Project Proposed in Downtown Anchorage
The first mixed-use hotel and apartment project in downtown Anchorage, Alaska will use prefabricated rooms and is expected to start construction this spring.
Transit Ridership Increases in Anchorage After Decade of Decline
Anchorage's People Mover transit system reports ridership has increased for the first time in a decade. Ridership increased 5.7% in annual ridership as compared to 2018.
Census 2020 Ready for Launch
In parts of Alaska, it's easier to start the Census count in January, when the ground is frozen. They'll get a head start in January.
28.3 Million Acres of Public Land at Risk in Alaska
The Trump administration is working on multiple fronts to liquidate public land in Alaska as the state struggles to balance its budget.
Department of Interior Plans to Open 1 Million Acres in California to Fracking
The Bakersfield Office of the Bureau of Land Management released an environmental study that is the basis for undoing a 2013 de facto moratorium on fracking on federal lands in California. The Supplemental EIS triggers a 45-day public comment period.
New Fiberoptic Cable Infrastructure Is Changing Alaska’s Classrooms
Rural Alaska has some of the least reliable and slowest internet connections in the country, but new cable infrastructure in the Arctic Sea is changing that.
Alaskans to Choose Between Salmon Habitat Protections and Resource Extraction
A contentious initiative on the Alaska ballot next month pits protecting salmon habitat protections against the interests of the oil and gas industry and mining companies.
Anchorage Officials Take on Code Scofflaws After Decade of Inaction
Anchorage officials have started to take a more assertive effort toward the clean up of nuisance buildings and properties that have become magnets for crime and other problems. This is the first clean-up of this scope since 2007.
Icy Roads, Meet Your Match
Cloud computing, the Internet of Things, and the other technological advancements making it easier to keep roads safe in icy winter conditions.
The Most Toxic Place in the United States
The title for most toxic location in the United States goes to a remote, and perhaps surprising location.
Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund Reenacted
Unlike Trump's suggested quarter-per-gallon gas tax, this 9-cents-per-barrel tax is real. Like the gas tax, it goes to a trust fund, to respond to oil spills rather than build and maintains roads. While small, it brings in $500 million annually.
The East Coast's 'Bomb Cyclone' and Climate Change
When President Trump tweeted that the East Coast needed global warming due to the freezing cold, experts responded by explaining the difference between weather and climate. But climate change may indeed be a cause of the bomb cyclone.
Drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Allowed with Passage of GOP Tax Bill
When President Trump signs the tax-cutting bill, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) will have achieved a family dream of opening up the pristine refuge, created 37 years ago, to drilling.
Third Rail of the Housing Debate: More Density in Single-Family Neighborhoods
If California is going to address its chronic housing shortage, single-family residential neighborhoods can no longer be ruled "off limits." Opposition to a small Berkeley subdivision spawned new housing legislation and fostered the YIMBY movement.
A Local Perspective on the Future of the Arctic
Arctic communities have a front row seat to witness the effects of climate change.
Anchorage Buses Switch to a High Frequency Grid
Anchorage's People Mover bus system is the latest in a string of U.S. bus systems to reroute onto a high frequency grid.
Will Alaska Return Millions of Dollars for Bike and Pedestrian Projects to the Feds, Again?
Last year, Alaska returned $2.6 million of its 2013 Transportation Alternatives Program funding to the U.S. Department of Transportation due to a shortage of eligible projects to fund, despite having four years to obligate the grant money.
Downtown Anchorage Targeted for Revitalizing Infill and Redevelopment
Downtown Anchorage has languished for decades from the lack of redevelopment. Mayor Ethan Berkowitz seeks to reinvigorate the downtown core with new housing and other development opportunities. Most of the new growth has gone to Midtown area.
President Trump Signs Executive Order to Reverse Obama's Coastal Drilling Ban
So much for that so-called "permanent" ban that President Obama enacted by President Obama in December to end oil and gas drilling in the Arctic Ocean and off the central-northern Atlantic coast.
Historic Anchorage Theatre Inspires State-Level Preservation Support
The Anchorage Historical Commission declared the 4th Avenue Theatre in downtown Anchorage a culturally and historically significant building that needs state protection.
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.
Caltrans
Smith Gee Studio
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
