News: Affordable Housing Funding, Measuring LRT Opinions, DC Streetcar Return, Nashville BRT
January 30, 2012
More News & Resources:
| Tracks News - In this section you'll find news from cities around the country as well as interviews and general reporting on issues. It might be from a newspaper or a blog, but it counts as news. |
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Chicago: City to Use Tax Credits for Affordable Housing Chicago Tribune The city's Department of Housing and Economic Development has allocated $30 million in federal tax credits to help finance 41 affordable housing projects, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration said Thursday... Read On |
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Norfolk: Measuring LRT Opinions is Divisive Virginian Pilot Voters could be asked to weigh in on a proposed light-rail line as early as November, months before a federally funded transportation study for such a project is scheduled to be complete... Read On |
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Nashville: Transpo Funds To Get People Out of Cars Tennessean Paved trails that will allow more students to walk and bike to schools are among eight Middle Tennessee projects awarded $2.5 million in federal funds by the Nashville Metropolitan Planning Organization... Read On |
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International: Edinburgh Trams Finally on Track Scotsman AS far as Edinburgh's tram project goes, it is perhaps one the most unlikely developments...the work is now ahead of schedule. The Mound is now set to open to buses, taxis and bicycles on March 3 - four months earlier than planned.. Read On |
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DC: Streetcars to Return to the District Washington Post The clang of the trolley's bell once was ingrained in the urban mosaic, sharper than a car horn, louder than the cry of boys hawking newspapers, distinct above the rumble of life in Washington... Read On |
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Charlotte: Cities Build Rail Systems for Future Growth Charlotte Observer Even though the proposed Red Line train will run far outside of Charlotte, it's become a hot topic among my neighbors in the central district. Those of us who remember the South Boulevard corridor prior to the Blue Line can testify that people have moved to the area along the train route... Read On |
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Charlotte: Norfolk Southern Issues w Commuter Plan Charlotte Observer Norfolk Southern is raising concerns about the proposed $452 million Red Line Regional Rail project that plans to run commuter trains on its tracks from Charlotte to southern Iredell County beginning in 2017... Read On |
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California: Low Income Housing at Risk San Francisco Examiner Cracks in the foundation of development finance are threatening the creation of new affordable housing for families, seniors, people with disabilities and other San Franciscans... Read On |
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Nashville: Bus Rapid Transit System Moves Ahead Tennessean Nashville transit officials this week moved another step closer to bringing a bus rapid transit system to the city and will next study projected costs and ridership... Read On |
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California: Cap and Trade Fees to Fund HSR? Sacramento Bee Gov. Jerry Brown said in an interview airing in Los Angeles today that California's high-speed rail project will cost far less than the state's current estimate of nearly $100 billion and that environmental fees paid by carbon producers will be a source of funding... Read On |
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Omaha: One Last Look at Streetcars Omaha World Herald After more than a decade of dreaming about streetcars, Omaha is beginning what promises to be the definitive study on the idea. If the streetcar concept is meant to move toward reality, it will have to prove worthwhile in an 18-month analysis of mass transit option.. Read On |
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Kansas City: Short Term and Long Term on Streetcar Kansas City Business Journals (Subscribe Wall) Restaurateur Michael Smith thinks Kansas City's proposed streetcar line could go far to attract people to Downtown and help businesses like his thrive - once it's up and running, that is... Read On |
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International: Better Transport Planned for Rio Financial Channel Better quality of life for more than half a million daily commuters, most of them poor, and the reduction of 93.700 tons of greenhouse gas emissions -equivalent to over 25,000 gasoline passenger cars per year- will be the main benefits of the Upgrading and Greening the Rio de Janeiro Urban Rail System Project.. Read On |
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Denver: Developments Spring Up Around Transit Denver Business Journal (Subscribe Wall) In the last 10 years, "transit-oriented development (TOD)" has gone from a new buzz phrase to reality for Denverites. The mixed-use developments, which are next to bus and/or light-rail stations, are springing up along the Regional Transportation District's light and commuter rail lines... Read On |
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Research: Mapping African Economy of E-Waste Journal of Urban Geography E-waste is a more than $7 billion industry. Trans-border shipments of e-waste occur in international circuits, typically originating in the United States and Europe, but now also from China, and connect to accumulation sites in particular networked cities in Africa and elsewhere... Read On |
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Research: Traditional Urban Form in China and Europe Journal of Urban Geography Urban growth and transformation across the world are presenting great challenges for the comprehension and management of urban landscape change... Read On |
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Research: Evaluating Transit as Energy Strategy TRB TRIS This report investigates the role public transit improvements can play in conserving energy and reducing emissions. Critics argue that transit is an inefficient strategy since on average it uses almost as much energy per passenger-mile as driving, and more than some commercially available cars... Read On |
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San Francisco: Redevelopment Redefined Waterfront San Francisco Chronicle The majority of San Francisco's historic waterfront was once neglected or forgotten, but the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency - responsible for driving waterfront transformation from Rincon Point's iconic bow-and-arrow sculpture to the Giants ballpark and the UCSF Mission Bay campus - changed that... Read On |
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California: Death of Redevelopment Closer San Jose Mercury News As California cities shut down their redevelopment agencies after losing a war for survival with the state, the battlefield assessment has begun. The casualties are extensive. Layoff notices have gone out in advance of a Feb. 1 court-imposed dissolution deadline... Read On |
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Texas: Houston Makes Second Bet on Neighborhood Houston Chronicle Eight years ago, city of Houston officials decided to incentivize the conversion of 80 wooded acres off Little York Road into a 375-home community, a place, in some small measure, to reverse working class flight to the suburbs and turn vacant land into a cluster of property-tax payers... Read On |
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Research: Retrofitting the Suburbs for Walking TRB TRIS During the last half of the 20th century, cities and towns in America were built for transportation by automobile. In California, expansion of urban areas is limited by a combination of constrained geography, market forces, and public policy, providing pressure for infill development in coastal cities... Read On |
