News: Houston TOD Preference, LA LRT Problems, Oakland BRT Benefits, Italy's Private HSR, Betting Big On TOD, Air Pollution Death Toll
April 23, 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. |
| TRANSPORT |
|
Houston: Mass Transit Gains Momentum in Survey Houston Chronicle This year's Kinder Houston Area Survey found strong support for mass transit and a growing number of people who say they want to live within walking distance of work and shopping, reflecting what survey founder Stephen Klineberg predicts will become a fundamental shift in one of the nation's most car-centric cities... Read On |
|
San Francisco: App Built for Muni Goes Unused New York Times If all goes according to the five-year plan approved by the Board of Supervisors, the city and county of San Francisco will upgrade its technology infrastructure to accommodate such trendy things as social networks, cloud computing, crowd-sourcing, open-source software and location-aware apps... Read On |
|
National: White House Doesn't Like Keystone Addition The Hill White House press secretary Jay Carney said Friday that mandating approval of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline was "noxious" to the future of a new federal highway bill that was approved by the House... Read On |
|
Portland: Building The Newest River Bridge Portland Oregonian Crews raising TriMet's $134 million light-rail bridge from the waters of the Willamette River are just hours away from the "Big Pour" of the west tower's base... Read On |
|
Los Angeles: Delays on the Blue Line Causing Problems Los Angeles Times As officials build mass transit lines at a rapid clip, Los Angeles County's oldest and most-used light-rail system has been breaking down with alarming frequency... Read On |
|
International: New Dehli Rail Going Underground Economic Times The rapid rail network to be laid as long-distance Metro trains connecting Delhi with its major suburbs with limited stops will go underground in the capital . There will be three hubs - Sarai Kale Khan for the Delhi-Meerut corridor, Kashmere Gate for the Panipat stretch and Dhaula Kuan for trains plying between Delhi and Alwar... Read On |
|
Pittsburgh: Oakland BRT to Cut Time Between Centers Pittsburgh Tribune Review A transit advisory group will conduct four public meetings during the next two weeks on proposed rapid bus service that could shorten commute times and spur development between Downtown and Oakland... Read On |
|
International: Italy Launches Private HSR AFP Italy launched Europe's first private high-speed train service this week, as the country looks towards the more liberal economy that Prime Minister Mario Monti wants to put on the rails... Read On |
| URBANISM/HOUSING/CITIES |
|
New Jersey: Town Betting Big on TOD Wall Street Journal Nestled along the Passaic River, this town has never quite shed its gritty industrial image, even as residential development helped transform nearby Jersey City and Hoboken from faded urban centers into commuter havens... Read On |
|
San Jose: Silicon Valley Needs Housing for Talent San Jose Mercury News The economic recovery appears to be well under way here in Silicon Valley. From 2009 to 2010, California's economy grew by just 1.8 percent, and the U.S. as a whole saw growth of just 2.6 percent. For the San Jose metro area, the figure was an eye-popping 13.6 percent -- easily the best among large U.S. regions. .. Read On |
|
International: 13K People/Yr Dying from Air Pollution Guardian UK Air pollution is prematurely killing 13,000 people a year in Britain compared with fewer than 2,000 deaths a year from road accidents, a major study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has concluded... Read On |
|
National: When Factories Close, Pain Lasts Wall Street Journal The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago has updated research that carries a sobering message for cities with big manufacturing legacies. Basically, the more factories a place used to have, the less growth it enjoys - even decades later... Read On |
|
Oakland: Redevelopment Head Discusses Loss Next American City Forefront In this week's Forefront story, journalist Josh Stephens took a close look at California Gov. Jerry Brown's decision to dissolve the state's 400-odd urban redevelopment agencies, and what the collapse of the $5.6 billion-a-year system means for cities... Read On |
|
National: Kotkin - The Great California Exodus Wall Street Journal 'California is God's best moment," says Joel Kotkin. "It's the best place in the world to live." Or at least it used to be. Mr. Kotkin, one of the nation's premier demographers, left his native New York City in 1971 to enroll at the University of California, Berkeley... Read On |
|
International: Chinese Cities Sinking from Buildings China Daily (via David King) A diminishing water table, combined with a growing number of skyscrapers, is causing large areas of China to sink, increasing flood risk and endangering the rail network, according to a survey released recently by the China Geological Survey... Read On |
|
New York: Why City Must Skyscrape New York Daily News The Bloomberg administration is fast-tracking a plan to transform the zoning near Grand Central Terminal, with changes that would allow developers to knock down smaller, older buildings and build new, modern towers... Read On |
|
Twin Cities: Grants Help Fund TOD Projects Minnesota Post One of the arguments for investing in improved transit in major corridors is that it attracts new development. But the Metropolitan Council figures that it doesn't hurt to prime the pump, especially during these challenging economic times... Read On |
|
Kansas City: TIF District Not Generating Needed Return Wall Street Journal The tab is mounting for this Midwestern city on a bet it made during the real-estate boom on an $850 million entertainment district meant to breathe new life into its struggling downtown... Read On |
|
International: Georgia Envisions Instant City New York Times Reaching the site where Georgia's government is breaking ground for Lazika, its grandiose city of the future, requires navigating livestock - shaggy cows and huge spotted hogs that sunbathe on the road to the hypnotic chirping of innumerable frogs... Read On |
