Photo by kmaschke on Flickr.

Arizona is cracking down on racial discrimination in housing, there’s lots we don’t know about how people get home from transit stations, and in Chicago, old pipes and telegraph lines at excavation sites may no longer be a problem. Check out what’s happening around the country in transportation, land use, and other related areas!

A win for fair housing: In Yuma, Arizona, developers can sue the city if they think reasons for blocking affordable housing projects are race-based, and the Supreme Court recently declined to hear arguments to overturn the decision that allows that. The case in question found that residents in a historically-white neighborhood were, in effect, organizing to keep Latinos from living nearby. (Arizona Daily Star)

The first last mile: Even if the trip isn’t that far, lots of people have to figure out how to get between their homes and jobs to where their nearby transit network is running — this is called the first/last mile problem, and people in transportation talk about it all the time. But there’s really not much research has on the subject. David King, a professor at Arizona State, says we need to know more about how much riders will tolerate fare changes, whether they’re ok transferring, and how much people budget to cover the last portions of their trips. (Transportist)

Mapping Chicago’s underground web: Underneath Chicago, long-forgotten wood pipes and telegraph lines make digging or tunneling an undertaking in bravery. But a 3D modeling company has created a way to map all of the underground pipes and wires so excavating a site is far less dangerous. (Chicago Magazine)

A subway in downtown Dallas: The Dallas City Council is supporting major transit projects downtown, including reorganizing the bus system and building a new subway line. This focus on the urban core means not prioritizing a suburban subway line that was competing for funds, which is a big shift for the council. (D Magazine)

A new approach in Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh hopes to add BRT and more bike lanes soon, and to better coordinate transportation projects between all of its departments, the city is opening a new Department of Mobility in Infrastructure. The hope is that the department will make it easier to make things like signal priority for buses and solar-powered autonomous vehicles happen. (Pittsburgh City Paper)

Quote of the Week

”‘Suburbs feel the same everywhere you go. All the same streets. All the same trees. All the same houses. It’s a way of living. I’m not saying it’s bad. I enjoyed it.’ ”>Brooklyn, though, has character, he said — the parks, the architecture, the people, the shops. ‘You walk to the stores, and you talk to the people there. He knows you, and you know him. Every place has a story behind it.’”

- Brooklyn Nets basketball player Luis Scola describes living in Brooklyn after the team moved there from New Jersey. He sold his minivan because he couldn’t find parking often enough! (New York Times)