Government / Politics

With $11.2 million in federal, state and local funds, the US DOT is launching a National Center for Sustainable Transportation. The center aims to reduce the transport sector's contribution to climate change through research, education, and outreach.

September 27, 2013 - Next City

With a goal of improving the quality of life for the city's residents, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is embarking on a titanic task: using technology, transparency, and accountability to transform the city's "lumbering" bureaucracy.

September 27, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer talks about the failures with federal natural disaster relief and how the country should build its resiliency to climate change with The Planning Report.

September 27, 2013 - The Planning Report

In the Toronto area, the region's suburbs have evolved in ways that make them fundamentally different from their outdated postwar image. Yet the ways we think and talk about the suburbs haven't kept up with this new reality.

September 27, 2013 - Toronto Star

LA's trendy Silver Lake neighborhood "is going through a full-blown, divisive identity crisis." Amid trendy boutiques and million dollar homes are bastions of poverty and crime. Activists are divided on how to define, let alone address, its problems.

September 26, 2013 - LA Weekly

Bill Fulton, noted Smart Growth advocate and Director of Planning for the City of San Diego, looks to rebuild a department and pass community plans in the wake of San Diego's leadership crisis. In this interview, he describes the path ahead.

September 26, 2013 - The Planning Report

In addition to some interesting findings regarding the relative benefits of investment in bus rapid transit, a new report from ITDP reached some fascinating conclusions concerning the factors most important to maximizing transit investment.

September 26, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Good news for all cyclists riding on Calif. roadways came from Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday when he attached his signature to a bill making it law that drivers give bicyclists at least 3 feet of space when passing from behind - only took him 5 years!

September 25, 2013 - Los Angeles Times - Opinion

Many planners might dream of how they'd change their communities if they were able to run things. In Compton, just south of Los Angeles, new mayor Aja Brown is hoping utilize her planning experience to help turn around the struggling city.

September 24, 2013 - Next City

In order for new coal power plants to meet the EPA's new rules for reduced emissions, they will have to rely on unproven carbon capture and storage (or sequester) technologies, putting the legality of the rule in doubt.

September 24, 2013 - The New York Times - Energy & Environment

In this era of federal government disfunction, cities have been able to innovate, cooperate, and tackle our biggest challenges. It behooves nation-states to see investment in cities as nation-building, and adjust their policies accordingly.

September 23, 2013 - Meeting of the Minds

Utah's San Rafael Swell is the scene of an energy showdown between conservationists who want to preserve this unique landscape (potentially a national monument), private oil and gas companies that want to drill there, and the BLM that has to decide.

September 23, 2013 - The New York Times - U.S.

Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood has been the focus of battles over gentrification for decades. Sarah Wesseler examines recent developments in the neighborhood in light of this history.

September 22, 2013 - Satellite Magazine

After five terms in office, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino's most enduring impact may bee seen in the city's changing skyline. Rather than go out with a whimper, the Menino era is ending with a bang as the pace of development accelerates.

September 21, 2013 - The New York Times

The Calif. Air Resources Board received uplifting news from the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this week when they rejected the charge that the Low Carbon Fuel Standard, designed to reduce carbon intensity in fuel, impeded interstate commerce.

September 20, 2013 - Reuters

The transportation bill known as MAP-21 expires in a little more than a year, but the key interest groups and political players are already staking out their positions. The posturing is compounded by the worsening state of the Highway Trust Fund.

September 20, 2013 - Politico Pro

Well designed environments assist our economy, wellbeing and happiness, says Sarah Wigglesworth. Yet money equals power in controlling the shape of built environment. She asserts that designers must act as leaders rather than slaves to their clients.

September 20, 2013 - Building Design

All four are in Riverside County (east of LA). Reduced vehicle license fees, shifting funds from cities to prisons and a huge state budget deficit created the perfect storm to drain expected revenues. Hope was placed in a bill to fix it.

September 19, 2013 - Bloomberg News

Mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio's quest to reduce New York City's growing inequality is an admirable one, and a message that has clearly resonated with voters. But do local leaders have the tools to achieve such goals?

September 19, 2013 - The Daily Beast

State officials ruled that the City of Sacramento did not meet deadlines for financing the K Street revitalization project, including improperly allocating redevelopment funds. The city disagreed and will sue to overturn the decision.

September 18, 2013 - Sacramento Bee