A single-toilet public restroom planned for San Francisco’s Noe Valley Town Square is expected to take two years to build, but it’s already causing a stink. The reason: its $1.7 million price tag. — Los Angeles Times
The proposed restroom would sit within a 150-square-foot enclosure within the town square, located in central San Francisco. While there are no designs for the project available, it is expected to be delivered by 2025. According to the city, the high price tag is meant to account for unexpected... View full entry
Work on the vast expansion of the Metro Purple Line in Los Angeles has come to an abrupt stop following dozens of worker injuries and safety concerns that officials say have not been addressed.
“Metro has ordered its contractor to temporarily suspend all field work on the Purple Line Extension Section 2 Project due to the unacceptable rate of serious worker injuries,” Metro said in a statement. "The safety of those building our county’s transportation projects must always be protected.”
— KTLA
A total of nine serious incidents were recorded this calendar year alone, with several near-misses that could have been “more serious,” according to Metro’s letter to general contractor Tutor Perini. Parts of the project had previously accelerated thanks to Covid-related street... View full entry
The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is now soliciting support for a new congressional effort aimed at bolstering heat mitigation strategies in vulnerable communities across the country. The bill, formally titled H.R. 7534, was introduced by Democratic Arizona Congressman Ruben... View full entry
James Corner Field Operations have been selected to lead the final six phases of Miami’s 10-mile long Underline linear park, the firm announced Thursday via social media. With the first phase now open at its northern terminus in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood, the firm will look to take... View full entry
According to the environmental study, maximum capacity on the gondola system would be 5,000 passengers per hour, with an estimated end-to-end trip of seven minutes. Admission to the system is intended to be free with a ticket to a Dodger game, and rides would otherwise be set at the same price as a Metro fare. — Urbanize Los Angeles
The 1.2-mile-long system will be supported by three 195-foot towers and include stops at the stadium, Chinatown, and its origin point in Union Station. The three proposed stations will vary between 74 and 98 feet in height and between 174 and 200 feet in length. Johnson Fain is reportedly one of... View full entry
The Chicago Architecture Center (CAC) has named a successor in its search to replace longtime President and CEO Lynn Osmond after her retirement in March. Eleanor Esser Gorski will step into the Chief Executive's role with over 25 years of experience in architecture, historic preservation, and... View full entry
Provencher_Roy has released photos of their recently completed pedestrian redevelopment along a six-block stretch of Montreal’s heavily-trafficked Sainte-Catherine St. West commercial district just north of Ville-Marie. The project entailed the reimagining of a busy former four-lane street into... View full entry
Abu Dhabi’s Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT) has announced the launch of a digital twin project, a first-of-its-kind initiative for the emirate capital. The undertaking was unveiled during GITEX Technology Week, a tech and startup event held in the Dubai World Trade Center... View full entry
New York City has announced its plans for a new $1.6 billion life sciences campus to be located on the east side of Manhattan and administered in partnership with the City University of New York (CUNY). SOM has been attached as the project lead for the SPARC Kips Bay development, which will... View full entry
The New York City Department of Transportation has selected Swedish construction concern Skanska to lead a $150 million rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Williamsburg Bridge, the city and firm announced last week. According to Skanska, the project will include “structural steel... View full entry
Most of New York City — more than 70% — can’t absorb rain due to all its concrete and pavement. This often leaves water falling from the sky with no place to go, leading to catastrophic and deadly flash floods. These calamities are especially common during cloudbursts, defined as a sudden but brief concentrations of heavy precipitation that typically accompany unusually hot weather, such as summer thunderstorms. Scientists expect the problem to worsen with climate change. — Gothamist
In response, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection has recently proposed an array of stormwater resilience strategies. One such plan is the Cloudburst Management plan, which will utilize a combination of grey infrastructure, such as sewer pipers and underground storage tanks... View full entry
Back in June, we covered news of research set to be undertaken at Penn State on the subject of embodied carbon in cities. The research, one of many stories this year focusing on embodied carbon, signals a growing awareness in academic and professional circles of the need to include whole-life... View full entry
The Urban Institute has warned that the proliferation of autonomous vehicles in the United States needs to be met by regulations at the federal, state, and local level to ensure equity and environmental sustainability. The non-profit group, which describes its role as inspiring “effective... View full entry
Norman Foster is in San Marino this week to present what he says is a new set of sustainable urban design principles to the 83rd meeting of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s Committee on Urban Development, Housing, and Land Management. The so-called San Marino Declaration... View full entry
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law a major reform to homebuilding in the state. The Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act, signed on September 28th, will override local zoning codes to allow for more affordable housing units to be built on land previously zoned for commercial... View full entry
