Infrastructure
Los Angeles County Looks to Mandate Seismic Retrofits
A common building type is a major contributor to earthquake fatalities, prompting the Board of Supervisors to consider requiring safety upgrades on older buildings.
Seattle Vision Zero Review Largely Misses the Point
The city released what it called a comprehensive review of its Vision Zero initiatives, but one critic argues the report doesn’t address some key opportunities for improving road safety.
Report: Pedestrian Deaths Rose Again in Early 2022
New data shows continued growth in pedestrian road deaths in most U.S. states.
Austin City Council Calls for Changes to Interstate Widening Plan
Legally powerless to stop TxDOT’s plans for freeway expansion, Austin city leaders hope to influence the agency to take some mitigation measures as it widens I-35.
New York City Parks Getting Modular Public Bathrooms
The ‘Portland Loo,’ named after its birth city, is designed to withstand year-round weather and resist vandalism.
USDOT Awards Reconnecting Communities Grants
The first $185 million in grants were awarded to projects that aim to improve mobility and reconnect neighborhoods isolated by highways and other infrastructure projects.
FHWA Rescinds Guidance Discouraging Road Expansions
A decision from the Government Accountability Office spurred by Republican pushback led the agency to issue a new memo abandoning its previous stance, which ‘gently’ promoted maintenance work over new road construction.
Study: One-Quarter of L.A. County Bus Stops Equipped With Shelters
Bus riders in Los Angeles frequently lack protection from sun and extreme heat, with bus stops in some of the county’s hottest areas having the worst amenities.
Resilience Matters: Collective Action For Healthier Communities
The Island Press Urban Resilience Project (URP) has published a new, free "Resilience Matters" e-book that contains fascinating articles, op-eds, and interviews that provide practical guidance for collective action to build a fairer, greener future.
How Consultants Drive Up Transit Construction Costs
A new report suggests that an overreliance on external consultants by U.S. transit agencies and other government entities is hollowing out the public sector and raising the costs of transit projects.
Livable Streets, Revisited
The updated version of Donald Appleyard’s 1982 book Livable Streets, written by Appleyard's son, dives even deeper into the ‘ecology of the street,’ proposing actionable solutions for the conflicts and problems facing urban environments today.
How Much Will That Infrastructure Really Cost?
A new tool developed in British Columbia calculates the cost of infrastructure over the entire life cycle of the project.
Virginia Receives Nearly $3 Million Reconnecting Communities Grant
Two Virginia cities were awarded federal funding aimed at improving connections between neighborhoods cut apart by freeway construction.
St. Louis Pledges to Repair Sidewalks. Residents Have Heard it Before.
A $6 million program takes aim at a backlog of thousands of requests for sidewalk maintenance, but critics say requiring property owners to foot half of the bill excludes less affluent neighborhoods.
Ohio Budget Could Fund Rural Roads, Ban Center Bike Lanes
Amendments proposed in the state budget would also prohibit automated traffic enforcement and allow residents to travel to Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean with Real IDs in lieu of passports.
New Jersey Offshore Wind Projects Face Opposition
Local critics of Gov. Phil Murphy’s plan to install hundreds of wind turbines off the New Jersey coast plan to sue the state to stop or delay the projects, citing aesthetic, environmental, and economic concerns.
Where Washington Students Lack Safe Walking Routes
In many rural and suburban Washington state communities, children who walk or bike to school don’t have access to safe, adequate pedestrian facilities.
Opinion: Hit the Brakes on Dallas Freeway Plan
A proposal to bury a Dallas freeway may not be the best way forward for the area’s residents.
How Vehicle Ownership Impacts Roadway Design
New research assesses the potential implications of reduced car ownership on the design of roads and communities.
New York Hires ‘Public Space Czar’
The public space officer will be in charge of making the city’s sidewalks more pedestrian-friendly while keeping streets clean and accessible.
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.
EMC Planning Group, Inc.
Planetizen
Planetizen
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
