Each Friday, the Wagner Planner editorial board will publish a news roundup of recent planning news. Topics range the gamut of urban planning concentrations, but will mostly be at the discretion of the editors.

Brendan’s Picks

Paris Mayor: It’s Time for a ’15-Minute City’

Paris needs to become a “15-minute city.” That’s the message from the manifesto of Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who is seeking re-election this March. Hidalgo has been leading a radical overhaul of the city’s mobility culture since taking office in 2014, and has already barred the most polluting vehicles from entry, banished cars from the Seine quayside and reclaimed road space for trees and pedestrians. Now, she says, Paris needs to go one step further and remodel itself so that residents can have all their needs met—be they for work, shopping, health, or culture—within 15 minutes of their own doorstep. (CityLab)

What Mike Bloomberg Got Wrong About Redlining and the Financial Crisis

Another related myth informs Bloomberg’s worldview, or at least as he expressed it during the financial crisis, Connolly says—that credit scores convey an objective truth about renters or owners. Here Bloomberg has an opportunity, even in light of his gaffe, to embrace policies that will undo the “mythology of credit,” he adds. (In January, Bloomberg outlined his plan to boost black homeownership in part by pushing lenders to change their credit-score models.) (CityLab)

A bank owns this boarded up home in a residential La Mesa, California, neighborhood that has been for sale for some time. Photographer: Jack Smith/Bloomberg News

Does more parking bring more business?

“…research has shown over and over that parking is not critical to retail streets. From 2010 to 2015, Philadelphia removed 3,000 downtown parking spots — 7% of the total — and has seen increased retail vibrancy in that period. In New York, the construction of new bike lanes — using space that could be taken up by parking instead — corresponded with a 24% increase in retail sales nearby. And on top of this, drivers often spend less per month compared to cyclists and pedestrians — nearly two-thirds that of pedestrians, according to one British study. As such, incentivizing drivers might just be bad business.” (Local Logic)

Mayelly’s Picks

Cities Fighting Climate Woes Hasten ‘Green Gentrification’

“(G)eographers and community activists are getting more and more worried about how cities choose which improvements to build, and where. They’re noticing that when poorer neighborhoods get water-absorbing green space, storm-surge-proof seawalls, and elevated buildings, all of a sudden they aren’t so poor anymore.” (Wired)

Pedestrians Aren’t Even Safe From Car Crashes Inside Buildings

“Drivers crash their cars into buildings an astonishing 60 times per day on average — crashes that kill as many as 500 people every year, and injure at least 4,000 more, according to research from advocacy group the Storefront Safety Council.”(Streetsblog)

New York Attorney General Accuses N.Y.C. of Fraud Over Taxi Crisis

“New York State’s attorney general on Thursday accused New York City of committing fraud by artificially inflating the value of yellow taxi medallions, and she demanded $810 million from the city to compensate the thousands of cabdrivers who are now saddled with enormous debt.” (The New York Times)

What We’re Reading (2/21)