Cities & Planning

The laundry list includes ideas for denser housing and expanded homeless outreach — along with some Space Needle-level swings.

Matt Sephton’s been collecting maps of Akihabara for years and now has a collection spanning from the 1970s to the 21st century. It starts out in the radio era, grows into the age of personal…

American public transit is notoriously expensive to build compared to countries in Europe and Asia. Today, we visit a $837 million subway station in New York to learn why these projects come with such a high price tag all across the country.For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

This week the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) is set to award $16.1 million to advance planning and design work for multiple segments of multiuse trail on the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas. The ultimate vision, being branded the Puget Sound to Pacific Trail, would connect over 200 miles from the Bainbridge Island ferry terminal all

Over the last few years, a couple of technical advances, a tweak in the law and some Oregon idiosyncrasies are helping the state's farmers take another look at producing maple syrup.

Ex-Im’s $900 million loan for a solar project in Angola is green colonialism

The current system makes it hard to build the long-distance power lines needed to transport wind and solar nationwide.

Researchers found as more Americans move into fire-risk areas, they increase the likelihood and impact of wildfires.

A new analysis suggests strategies to better prepare for extreme heat and prevent attributed deaths across Washington.

The width allocated to lanes for motorists, buses, trucks, bikes, and parked cars is a sensitive and crucial aspect of street design. Lane widths should be considered within the assemblage of a given…

Many communities are now debating decreasing neighborhood street width. Planning commissioners need to understand the pros and cons of this debate. How narrow is too narrow -- and how wide is too wide?

This street, in San Jose, California, is 60 feet wide The land underneath is worth $2.7 million—nearly $250,000 per house No wonder housing is so expensive In the United States, residential streets are typically 50 feet wide. That's much wider than in most other countries. In Tokyo, for example, the

Japanese vending machines are like Doraemon's magical pocket - it offers everything ranging from amulets to Pokémon merchandise.

From soft drinks to hot coffee, Japanese vending machines are world-famous. To learn about this unique culture of Japan, read on to find out.

The Japanese are always one step ahead in innovation.

A trip to Japan is guaranteed to blow your mind every few minutes. When foreigners come to Japan for the first time, especially to Tokyo, one thing that is sure to catch their eye is how many vending machines there are. Vending machines are in almost every country in the world. However, what's surprising is how many of them there are in Japan.

Shirts, eggs, flowers, umbrellas, fruits, and fish can all be found in vending machines across Japan. And, that is just the tip of the iceberg.

For decades now, Japanese vending machines have served up an array of interesting, mundane, and useful things. Things like manga. Or bread in a can. Or illicit substances. Or video game piracy cartridges.

A high school student's innovative idea to use proceeds from vending machines to provide local children in need with meals became a reality in Himeji City.

Lobbyists for the Association of Washington Cities flex the group’s influence in Olympia — including the ability to draft policy themselves.

Officials stopped short of full pedestrianization, but do plan a cycle track. Seattle's special department focused on the revamp of the central waterfront has released a proposed concept for how to remake a two-block stretch of Bell Street, one of the final projects in the $781 million program expected to wrap up by 2025. The

A one-time deep clean at Link stations headlines the hygiene. Cleaning at some Sound Transit facilities are set to see an improvement. A newly approved contract amendment with MSNW Group, a third-party janitorial services provider, will enhance service at a slate of agency-operated facilities, including parking garages, Sounder, Tacoma Link, and ST Express. The contract

Mine changed my life. One could change yours, too.

We need to tax/price the pump right out of profitability.

A new report says U.S. households need to buy 14 million extra heat pumps, induction stoves, and other electric alternatives in the next three years.

The L-shaped bridge, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and James Corner Field Operations, stands to make a small stretch of Manhattan much more pleasant for pedestrians.

Mayor Bruce Harrell and Amazon have pushed to add a last-minute alternative for Ballard Link that would drop a station in South Lake Union in order to shift Denny Station west off Westlake Avenue. Transit advocates have condemned the idea for worsening transit connections and adding further delays to an already delayed study. The agency