PlanGPT: A New AI Tool Specifically for Planners
Courtesy of Planetizen
By Adnan Hassan
Researchers have developed the first AI tool designed specifically for urban planners. PlanGPT is a specialized large language model (LLMs)—models that are pre-trained on vast amounts of data—developed as part of a collaboration between educational institutions including the Chinese Academy of Urban Planning.
PlanGPT significantly improves the precision of information extraction from urban planning texts, leveraging domain-specific fine-tuning and advanced tooling capabilities to meet the unique demands of the field.” Hassan reports that empirical tests have shown PlanGPT to deliver higher-quality and relevant responses compared to existing state-of-the-art models in typical urban planning tasks.
Read more:
https://www.planetizen.com/news/2024/03/127906-plangpt-new-ai-tool-specifically-planners
How a Cold, Hilly Canadian City Became a Year-Round Cycling Success Story
Courtesy of Strong Towns
By Ben Abramson
MONTREAL - The average daily temperature in February is 26 degrees Fahrenheit, with overnight lows at 12 degrees. There are 12 days of precipitation (primarily snow). There’s a massive, 764-foot-high hill smack dab in the middle of the city. Who would go cycling in such conditions? Montrealers, and the city’s bikeshare program has the stats to prove it.
Montreal’s bikeshare program, called BIXI, has grown exponentially since launching in 2009. With over 10,000 bikes, it has the largest fleet in Canada and one of the largest in North America. BIXI has a user base of more than 500,000 riders, who took almost 12 million trips in 2023, more than double the 5.8 million in (pre-COVID) 2019. This demand led BIXI to add winter service for the first time this season.
Read more:
https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2024/3/19/how-a-cold-hilly-canadian-city-became-a-year-round-cycling-success-story
Funding Available: Community Change Grants Program
Courtesy of NRPA
As part of the landmark climate legislation passed in August 2022 — the Inflation Reduction Act — Congress created many new streams of federal funding for environmental justice priorities. These programs are intended to mitigate the impacts of climate change, with a focus on investment in disadvantaged communities that have traditionally been left behind by federal initiatives.
One such program under this suite of new environmental justice authorities — the Environmental Protection Agency’s Community Change Grant Program — was announced and opened for applications in late 2023. The program will award roughly $2 billion in funding for projects that provide meaningful improvements to the environmental, climate and resilience conditions affecting disadvantaged communities.
For more information:
https://grants.gov/search-results-detail/351071
A unique approach to stopping the spotted lanternfly
Courtesy of Parks and Recreation Business +
By Jefferey Spivey
NEW YORK - If you visit Westchester County’s parks in late summer or early fall, you might pass by a park employee with a vacuum strapped to the back. Ietaka says the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets introduced them, offering individual sample units to various partners around the state. Westchester County was an early recipient.
From the initial loaner, the parks department expanded its inventory to 18 units and then purchased another 10 to loan out to various municipalities. The department moved in this direction because the lanternflies didn’t pose enough risk to warrant pesticide use. The vacuums offered another effective option to limit population growth.
Read more:
https://www.prbplus.com/a-unique-approach-to-stopping-the-spotted-lanternfly/
Virtual learning platforms bring students to parks statewide
Courtesy of the Monterey Herald
By Gillian Dohrn
CALIFORNIA - California State Parks launched Parks Online Resources for Teachers and Students (PORTS) in 2004. The Año Nuevo elephant seal program is one of their flagships. Back then, PORTS fed live video from a camera set up on Año Nuevo Island to a green screen studio at Seacliff State Beach, where a parks interpreter appeared amongst the elephant seals to teach students in faraway classrooms about California’s geography and natural history.
In the past two decades, PORTS has blossomed into a multi-faceted virtual learning platform serving an estimated 350,000 students annually. They organize thousands of live interactive presentations, broadcasts and blended-access field trips at no cost to teachers and students.
Read more:
https://www.montereyherald.com/2024/03/11/virtual-learning-platforms-brings-students-to-parks-statewide/
When land is unsuitable for sports fields, it’s perfect for disc golf
Courtesy of Parks and Recreation Business +
By Mary Helen Sprecher
Adding sports facilities to parks might be a tough sell to administrators; after all, even post-pandemic, it’s difficult to justify construction expenses.
But what if there was a sport that could use the existing landscape and, in fact, welcomed obstacles like rocks, trees, and sloping grades? What if, at the same time, that sport brought in plenty of foot traffic that also deterred vandals?
Sounds like a win/win, doesn’t it? Disc golf can bring home that dual victory. In essence, all that’s needed is a space, a course design, baskets—and the ability to market the game.
Read more:
https://www.prbplus.com/when-land-is-unsuitable-for-fields-and-similar-amenities-its-perfect-for-disc-golf/
New program helps connect trails across the US
Courtesy of NRPA
By Jeff McMurray
The Biden administration has opened grant applications for the Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment Program (ATIIP) grant program that for the first time prioritizes not just building trails but connecting the existing ones. The 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law allowed for as much as $1 billion over five years for the program, but Congress has authorized less than $45 million so far.
Officials are expecting a highly competitive grant process, including applications from many of the communities along the planned route of the 3,700-mile (5,966-kilometer) Great American Rail-Trail. While the ambitious project currently includes more than 125 completed trails across 12 states and the nation’s capital, significant gaps remain — particularly in rural Western states such as Montana and Wyoming.
Applications are due by Monday, June 17, 11:59 p.m. Eastern.
For more information:
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/bicycle_pedestrian/atiip/
Lexington’s parks need $8 million a year, organizers say. Tax to pay for it clears first hurdle
Courtesy of Yahoo News
By Beth Musgrave
KENTUCKY - A push to allow taxpayers to decide if there should be a special tax to support Lexington’s more than 100 parks moved forward Tuesday.
A group of citizens called Parks Sustainable Funding has proposed a referendum that would set up a separate tax to permanently generate approximately $8 million a year for parks capital projects. The group launched in late February.
Read more:
https://news.yahoo.com/lexington-parks-8-million-organizers-194447225.html
