LA-LAS HSR: Virgin Trains USA plans to have an electric high-speed rail line up and running by 2023 between Southern California and Las Vegas.
Expanding Penn: New York’s governor wants to expand track capacity at Penn Station in Manhattan to accommodate more passengers ($).
Weakening NEPA: The Trump administration wants to weaken the National Environmental Policy Act by striking consideration of climate change ($), but Congress may end up trying to block the changes.
Learn from Finland: Finland has ended homelessness.
GND CA: California state legislators have announced a Green New Deal platform.
New tenant: PCC, not New Seasons, will go in as the new grocery at 23rd Ave and E Union St.
Stop victim-shaming: Charles Marohn of Strong Towns says that the federal government should stop victim-shaming people who walk.
Urban architecture: CityLab explains how every city in the 1980s needed a science center.
Legalizing public housing: California could wind up eliminating a law that is blocking more public housing in the state.
Preserving businesses: A small business stabilization pilot program is launching in Seattle.
Bus lanes approved: The federal government is now allowing red bus lanes to be widely used across the country ($).
Transit is key: The Globe and Mail‘s editorial board says that transit is key to Canada’s future success as it grows.
The big issue: Homelessness charts as the biggest statewide issue in Washington in the latest Elway poll.
Underbuilt: A new report says that Washington has underbuilt housing by 225,600 units in the past 15 years.
Unsustainable nation: In the past decade, America built 24 times as many miles of new highways and arterials than new quality transit services.
Reducing evictions: Federal Way has made it hard to evict tenants without good cause.
Building density: Lloyd Alter explains why building density matters as much as building efficiency.
Future-proofing: Seattle Subway says that ST4 must be passed to future-proof light rail expansion from unnecessary growing pains, missed opportunities, and added costs.
What’s a Republican?: Washington Democrats look set to mop up in 2020 elections.
Dwindling coal use: A decline in coal use in 2019 may have led to an annual reduction in carbon emissions in the United States.
Stephen is a professional urban planner in Puget Sound with a passion for sustainable, livable, and diverse cities. He is especially interested in how policies, regulations, and programs can promote positive outcomes for communities. With stints in great cities like Bellingham and Cork, Stephen currently lives in Seattle. He primarily covers land use and transportation issues and has been with The Urbanist since 2014.