Reconnecting America People * Places * Possibility

News: LA Orange Line Testing, Denver LRT Corridor Ideas, NC LRT Extension Funding, Romeny's HUD Comments, Toronto Condo Boom

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.
TRANSPORT

Los Angeles: Orange Line Testing Starts Monday

Los Angeles Times


Three weeks of testing are scheduled to begin Monday for the new Orange Line extension -- a $216-million project in the San Fernando Valley that will add four miles to the bus rapid transit route and link it to the Chatsworth Metrolink rail station...

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Denver: RTD Seeking Ideas for I225 LRT Project

Denver Post


Private firms will soon be asked to submit their ideas to help build the FasTracks Interstate 225 light-rail project in hopes of finishing that segment of roadway sooner and at less cost...

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Charlotte: State OKs Money for LRT Extension

Charlotte Observer


Local and N.C. officials are expected to announce Thursday that state has signed a deal to pay 25 percent of the costs for the planned 9.4-mile light rail extension to UNC Charlotte's campus...

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URBANISM/HOUSING/CITIES

National: Fight Over Romney's HUD Comments

Washington Post


Democrats on Thursday criticized Republican front-runner Mitt Romney's suggestion this week that he might eliminate the Department of Housing and Urban Development, warning that such a step would put recent reductions in veterans' homelessness at risk...

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Bay Area: Pleasanton Approves Housing South of BART

Contra Costa Times


The City Council has approved plans for 500 apartments in the Hacienda Business Park that will help the city meet court-approved requirements to provide more affordable housing in town. The unanimous approval on Wednesday night OKs plans by BRE Properties, a national builder of affordable housing, to construct a mixed-use housing project with about 500 apartments plus retail space. ..

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Toronto: Intensifying Urbanization Driving Condo Boom

Globe and Mail


I wrote recently about the plight of U.S. homeowners who are suffering from the slide in house prices even if they diligently paid off their mortgages and didn't over-extend themselves in the first place...

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