Construction Starts on Las Vegas to L.A. High Speed Rail Line

Brightline West Illustration.

Every day at The Overhead Wire we sort through over 1,500 news items about cities and share the best ones with our email list. At the end of the week, we take some of the most popular stories and share them with Urban Milwaukee readers. They are national (or international) links, sometimes entertaining and sometimes absurd, but hopefully useful.

Nashville mayor unveils transit plan: Nashville’s mayor has released a $3.1B transportation plan that includes transit improvements and complete streets upgrades for the city. Funding would be through a half cent sales tax that voters need to approve this fall. The plan includes 54 miles of upgraded streets with priority bus treatments and property would be purchased near major transit nodes for TOD and funding would be available to double transit service. (Cassandra Stephenson | Nashville Tennessean)

A much older example of social housing than Vienna: A lot of social housing advocates look to Vienna Austria for inspiration on creating more affordable housing for cities. But there’s an older example that should perhaps be considered according to Miriam Axel-Lute; Teotihuacan Mexico in 300 AD. At that time the city’s temples fell out of use and a new grid of communal apartment blocks emerged according to the archeological record. (Miriam Axel-Lute | Shelterforce)

Aging in place or stuck there? Older Americans who believed they’d be able to sell the house they paid off in order to move somewhere that works better for them as they aged are feeling stuck. Finding those places with a smaller footprint and without stairs are few and far between and rising property taxes and other homeownership costs are creating burdens for a large part of the population. (Paula Span | New York Times)

$12B high speed rail starts construction to Las Vegas: Construction began on a $12B line between the outskirts of Los Angeles and Las Vegas on a new high speed rail line that will be operated by private operator Brightline. The line will reach speeds of 200mph and the CEO hopes it will be open in time for the Olympics in 2028. Construction will include viaducts and wildlife crossings and land acquisition will be limited due to existing rights of way. (Julie Strupp | Smart Cities Dive)

Design week has changed Milan: The city of Milan Italy is famous for its “weeks” including a design week and fashion week that take over the city every year. But those short bursts of activity have also changed the commercial real estate market as property owners have succumbed to the lure of short term rentals as aggressive gentrification has set in. The events have changed too, from places of experimentation and conviviality to overcrowded and overhyped scenes. (Lucia Tozzi | DomusWeb)

Quote of the Week

Every summer, after the season closes and the oysters begin to spawn, I work to restore sections of salt marsh within our lease whose banks were stripped of oysters long ago. I plant wooden stakes along the intertidal zone to which microscopic oysters will attach in the summer and eventually grow into dense, mature clusters. With time and additional generations of oysters, these growing clusters become healthy beds, and the eroded marsh will begin to heal itself.

–Oysterman Cyrus Buffum in Esquire Magazine discussing how he works a section South Carolina Lowcountry, farming oysters and restoring ecosystems.

This week on the podcast we’re joined by Sara Stickler, President and CEO of WTS International. We discuss how WTS highlights women’s expertise in transportation and how they create opportunities from mentorship to leadership and education.

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