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News: NJ Transit Hubs, Detroit Light Rail, Texas Value Capture, Calgary Population Density, Ending NY Parking Minimums

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.

New Jersey: Christie Signs Transit Hubs Bill

Jersey Journal


Gov. Chris Christie signed the Grow NJ bill yesterday, allotting $200 million for economic development in transit hub cities that need financial help. ..

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National: Detroit to Reconsider Light Rail Project

Wall Street Journal (Paywall)


The derailed plan to bring a train line to the Motor City received a possible reprieve Friday after government officials agreed to review a more -limited project...

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Dallas: Cotton Belt Value Capture Project Moving Ahead

Dallas Morning News


For as long as I've been a member, this newspaper's editorial board has strongly advocated expanding the North Texas rail transit network. At present, there's only one way: the public-private Cotton Belt...

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Calgary: Population Density Part of Many Plans

Calgary Herald


About 15 years ago, Donna Zwicker and her husband, Terry, decided to renovate the Parkdale home in which they had raised their children. Everybody thought they were crazy. Parkdale was crumbling. The population was aging, the school was in danger of being closed and some areas were falling apart..

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New York: Arch Critic Calls to Eliminate Parking Mins

Streetsblog NYC


The fight to eliminate parking minimums in New York City just went mainstream. As part of a wide-ranging exploration of parking lots and public space set to run in Sunday's paper, New York Times architecture critic Michael Kimmelman signed on to the growing list of people urging New York City's Department of City Planning to scrap the costly and outdated requirements that force new developments in most of the city to include parking...

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Detroit: Bing, Snyder, LaHood to Meet on Plans

Detroit Free Press


Mayor Dave Bing, Gov. Rick Snyder and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood were to meet today in their first face-to-face discussions since the leaders agreed last month to scrap plans for a $550-million light rail plan in favor of a regional system of rapid-transit buses...

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San Francisco: SFPark Leads to 20% Greater Revenue

SF Examiner


With new technology at hand, motorists in the Financial District, Fisherman's Wharf and the Embarcadero are doing a lot better job of feeding their parking meters...

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Houston: Plan Could Alter Housing Density

Houston Chronicle (via Planetizen)


For the first time since 1999, city planners are pushing for changes to regulations that would pave the way for denser development, including townhomes and multi-family properties, through much of Houston...

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National: In Iowa, Golf Course Back to Cropland

New York Times (via Planetizen)


A splash of green on a solid beige horizon, the golf course at the edge of this tiny town promised residents nine modest holes of refuge from corn country...

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Report: Health Impact Assessment of Central Corridor

Policy Link


The Twin Cities region is planning at least four transit corridors, the first of which is the Central Corridor Light Rail Transit Line (CCLRT) that is currently under construction. The CCLRT is an 11-mile transit corridor along University Avenue connecting downtown Minneapolis with downtown Saint Paul...

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New York: Taking Parking Seriously as Public Space

New York Times


THERE are said to be at least 105 million and maybe as many as 2 billion parking spaces in the United States...

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California: Facing Redevelopment Agency Free Future

Bond Buyer (via Scott B) 


The California Supreme Court last week rang the death knell for the state's redevelopment agencies, sparking questions about how their existing obligations will be met...

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Calgary: Anti-Sprawl Development Moves Forward

The Globe and Mail


Calgary is looking ahead. Over the next 60 years, it expects to welcome another 1.3 million citizens - and Plan It Calgary should ensure the city's growth is sustainable...

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Florida: Jacksonville to Miami Rail to Happen

Florida Today


A top Amtrak official told passenger rail supporters meeting Thursday in Cocoa that he is optimistic trains will stop there, as well as in Titusville and Melbourne, in the coming years...

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International: A £250M Lesson for Rail Enthusiasts

Telegraph UK


As the Government prepares to give the go-ahead to its hugely controversial high-speed train project, its closest equivalent in Europe has had to be saved from bankruptcy with a £250 million government bailout...

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Los Angeles: Voters May Be Asked to Extend Measure R

Mass Transit Magazine


Los Angeles transportation officials want to ask voters during next fall's presidential election to support at least a 10-year extension of the Measure R sales tax, a move that could raise billions more for transit projects and likely speed construction...

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New York: A Vision for Urban Parks

New York Times


WHEN I was 9, a trip to the White Mountains in New Hampshire during summer camp started my interest in parks and hiking. After that, I visited national parks and decided I liked rugged rural areas. Later, I grew to appreciate bits of nature that governments provide for urban residents...

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International: High Speed Rail Go, Stalls Car Lobby

Independent UK


Ms Greening will this week let the super-fast train take the strain, backing a 109-mile line between London and Birmingham, and future extensions to Leeds and Manchester. In three decades, the high-speed line is expected to replace 6 million flights and 9 million road trips as travellers switch to rail...

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National: Marketing Plans Help Cities Draw Business

Minneapolis Star Tribune


Several Dakota County cities are developing marketing strategies to keep up with their neighbors in drawing more business their way. Hastings just approved a nearly $29,000 plan, partly based on a survey last year of 35 area businesses and prepared by Minneapolis public relations firm Himle Horner...

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Kansas City: Leaders Propose Inner City Sales Tax

Kansas City Star


Urban core leaders announced Saturday they are launching a Kansas City petition drive to place a ⅛-cent sales tax on an upcoming ballot to address blight, economic development and neighborhood stabilization...

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International: Parks Now Stand Where Freeways Were

New York Times


Even on a chilly Thursday afternoon in December, the old men, engulfed in cigar smoke and reading newspapers, were sitting around chess tables under tall pines. Nearby, a young woman had strung her line between the trunks of two mulberry trees to practice tightrope walking...

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Columbus: COTA Studying BRT for Cleveland Ave

Columbus Dispatch


The Central Ohio Transit Authority will hit the road next month to begin gathering ideas for public-transportation improvements between Downtown, the Northeast Side and beyond...

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