New Mexico

Close-up of black traffic light with green bike symbol lit up and blurry urban scene in background

New Mexico Could Require Protected Bike Lanes With Road Projects

A proposed bill would require larger towns to add protected bike lanes to any new road improvements and direct state funding to applicable projects.

March 6, 2023 - Smart Cities Dive

The New Mexico State Capitol building, with a statue of small children playing in the foreground.

New Mexico Legislation Would Launch Public Transit Fund

Senate Bill 55, under consideration in New Mexico, is moving through the State Legislature.

February 13, 2023 - KRQE

A fly fisher casts on a fog-covered river.

Lawsuit Could Open Public Access to Colorado Rivers

Colorado is one of few U.S. states that has decided that private property owners supersede the public when it comes to access to rivers and streams.

June 30, 2022 - High Country News

U.S. Department of the Interior

Navajo Leaders: Renewable Energy Transition Must Account for Equity

Native American leaders in the Southwest want to ensure their communities have a voice, and an opportunity for well-paying jobs, in renewable energy projects on Native land.

January 19, 2022 - High Country News

An image of a sign asking people to wear masks during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Omicron Breaks Another Pandemic Record: Hospitalizations

The highly infectious Omicron variant is contributing to a record number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the U.S. The record set in last winter's surge fell on Tuesday as hospitals suffer from massive labor shortages caused by the variant.

January 16, 2022 - The Washington Post

ABQ Ride stop

Albuquerque Buses Go Fare-Free for 2022

Albuquerque is the largest U.S. city yet to offer free rides on its entire system of buses with a one-year pilot program that launched at the beginning of the year.

January 6, 2022 - Marketplace

One man, wearing a mask, walks down an otherwise empty 16th St in Denver.

COVID: Colorado Activates Partial Crisis Standards of Care

In a sign that the pandemic is far from over, Colorado reactivated its crisis standards of care for staffing of health care systems on Nov. 9 as infections increased modestly nationwide. Gov. Polis made all vaccinated adults eligible for a booster.

November 14, 2021 - Bloomberg Prognosis

Toronto Sidewalk

Student-Designed Cool Sidewalk Could Reduce 'Urban Heat Island' Effect

Researchers at the University of New Mexico created a sidewalk design using materials that would reduce heat absorption and require fewer materials than traditional concrete sidewalks.

September 28, 2021 - University of New Mexico

ABQ Ride stop

Transit Goes Fare-Free for One Year in Albuquerque

Albuquerque will become one of the largest cities in the nation to launch a fare-free pilot program for transit riders.

September 23, 2021 - Albuquerque Journal

An image of a sign asking people to wear masks during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Louisiana's Health Care System on Brink of Collapse

We've been here many times before in the pandemic, but without the benefit of a vaccine. Gov. John Bel Edwards, one of a few governors to mandate mask-wearing indoors, warns of a collapse of the health care system, but also rules out restrictions.

August 26, 2021 - The Advocate (Louisiana)

Glen Canyon Dam

Colorado River Dams Could Stop Producing Hydropower

Officials are releasing water from upstream reservoirs as water levels in the river's major reservoirs fall to historic lows.

July 22, 2021 - KUNC

Mass Vaccination

Coronavirus Litigation: Can Employers Require Employee Vaccinations?

The plaintiffs in one of the nation's first court cases over employer-required COVID vaccinations are among the heroes of the pandemic—nurses fighting to remain unvaccinated. Houston Methodist Hospital suspended unvaccinated employees on June 6.

June 10, 2021 - JD Supra

Colorado River

New Drought Contingencies Triggered for Upper Colorado River States

The latest Bureau of Reclamation report on water levels in Lake Powell and Lake Mead trigger new drought contingencies in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.

May 26, 2021 - Upper Colorado River Commission

Desert Rain

Drought Takes Hold of the American West

The megadrought continues, with contingency plans differing by location.

April 21, 2021 - CNN

Exclusionary covenant

New Mexico Communities Reflect on Racial Restrictive Covenants

Explicitly racist and exclusionary language remains embedded in many communities' restrictive covenants. State legislators and local leaders want to change that.

March 23, 2021 - High Country News

Page, Arizona

Drought Contingency Plan Triggered for the Colorado River

Signs of worsening drought conditions in the American West are triggering early actions for states that depend on water from the Colorado River.

January 21, 2021 - KUNC

Durango, Colorado.

How Working From Home Is Changing Where We Live

Remote workers are flocking to small, amenity-rich towns in the West, changing their social and economic landscape.

January 15, 2021 - High Country News

Coronavirus

California's Hospital Crisis: What Lies Ahead

As COVID infections and hospitalizations mount in California, ICU availability dropped to zero in Southern and Central California. Demand for hospital care is also outstripping supply in New Mexico.

December 21, 2020 - The Washington Post

Congress

Biden Diversifies Cabinet With EPA Administrator, Interior Secretary Picks

President-elect Biden made two historic cabinet selections: Michael Regan, who heads the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, to run the U.S. EPA, and Rep. Deb Haaland of New Mexico, to head the Interior Department.

December 21, 2020 - The Washington Post

Ambulance

Hospitals and Healthcare Workers Brace for Influx of COVID Patients

Coronavirus infections, while at record-high levels, have decreased during the past week, unlike hospitalizations, which are still surging. Public health experts expect it to get a lot worse due to the Thanksgiving holiday travel.

December 3, 2020 - Bloomberg News

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.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

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A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.