When it Comes to Parks, it's Not Just How Many, But Where
The median land area dedicated to park space in U.S. cities is 8.1 percent, according to a 2011 report from The Trust for Public Land [PDF]. How that 8.1 percent spreads itself out, though, varies from city to city - some with a handful of very large parks and others with many smaller parks. But according to a 2010 report from the Centers for Disease Control, only one out of five children in the U.S. lives within a half-mile of a park or playground. For the playground advocacy group KaBOOM!, these numbers are troubling.
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Here Comes the High Line Part 3
What else can the intrepid High Line team possibly do that they haven't done before? It turns out the upcoming 3rd segment, the final stretch of the revamped historic freight rail line, which will run from 30th street through 34th street and wrap around the new Hudson Yards redevelopment project, will offer a performance space, an awesome new kids' playspace, and more variations on the unique benches used throughout the park. The new segment, which also encompasses the "spur" that juts out at 30th street, is expected to open by 2014 at a cost of $90 million.
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U.S. Poised For Passenger Rail Boom
Of planes, trains, and automobiles, only one can accommodate America's growing need for urban and intercity transportation, according to a panel of transportation officials who gathered in Chicago Wednesday. Transportation officials from Chicago, Denver and Washington DC gathered at the headquarters of the Metropolitan Planning Council to discuss the need for "fun and functional transit centers." Underlying fun and function, however, was a common assumption that U.S. transit centers are about to become much more crowded.
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More apartment rentals to come
CENTREVILLE Planners have taken to heart citizen pleas for more work-force and affordable rental housing in Queen Anne's County and are revising code to allow for an increase. Text amendment 12-02 to chapter 18 Land Use and Development Code seeks to add apartment development in some zoning designations and increase density under certain conditions in others, primarily from Grasonville to Stevensville. Helen Spinelli, lead community planner for the county, presented the proposed text amendment at the March 8 Planning Commission meeting. No action has yet been taken by the Planning Commission as the amendment is still in process.
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| Proposal to study new Bay span gets favorable report
ANNAPOLIS The state Senate Finance Committee moved forward Wednesday a proposal to study the feasibility of a third bridge span crossing the Chesapeake Bay. The associated bill is sponsored by Senate Minority Leader E.J. Pipkin, R-36-Upper Shore, who was pleased with the news his proposal received a favorable report by the Finance Committee, of which he is a member. The bill still requires full General Assembly approval and the governor's signature.The bill does not mean a third span will be built for the William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial (Bay) Bridge, or that another bridge will built across the Bay. It only requires the state to prepare an environmental impact statement as required by the National Environmental Policy Act for a new bridge.
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