Around the Block
You Can’t Have Family-Friendly Cities Without Kid-Friendly Streets
A lot of cities assume that all parents who can move to the suburbs will do so. But it doesn't have to be that way.
June 26, 2017
Portland Has a Plan to Do for Buses What It Did for Cycling
Portland officials are developing a plan for a network of "Enhanced Transit Corridors," carving out space in the street for buses so vehicles with 30 passengers aren't stuck in a quagmire of vehicles carrying just one.
June 23, 2017
Dallas Confronts the Dilemma: Build Transit for the Burbs, or Build Transit People Will Use
The biggest potential for transit ridership is in walkable neighborhoods in the city, where more people and jobs are clustered closer together. But regional politics often lead agencies to build transit in suburban areas where ridership will be more sparse.
June 22, 2017
The Science Is Clear: More Highways Equals More Traffic. Why Are DOTs Still Ignoring It?
Numerous studies have documented the phenomenon known as induced demand in transportation: Basically, if you build highway lanes, more drivers will come. And yet, transportation agencies rarely account for this effect when planning road projects.
June 21, 2017
A Tribute to Branden Klayko, Who Loved Louisville and Wanted His City to Be Its Best
We want to take a moment to honor the life of Branden Klayko, an architect and Louisville native who founded the local blog Broken Sidewalk, which was part of the Streetsblog Network for years.
June 20, 2017
Highway Planners Pause to Consider the Effect of Road Widening on Detroit Neighborhoods
Standard practice for the highway planners at state DOTs is to sacrifice all other concerns at the altar of fast car traffic. Nowhere has the effect been more obviously detrimental than Detroit, where the overbuilt freeway system helped hollow out one of America's largest cities. But highway planners in Michigan are starting to listen to people who say they want something different.
June 19, 2017
Blaming People for Wearing Black Wins the Prize for Anti-Pedestrian Idiocy
It takes a special kind of callousness to say that pedestrians are making city streets dangerous by wearing black. And yet, that's exactly what the Seattle Times did this weekend.
May 31, 2017
This Nearly-Empty Indianapolis Parking Garage Is an Epic Waste of Public Money
Subsidized parking garages frequently turn into money-losing concrete bunkers on land better suited for something more productive than car storage. The Broad Ripple parking garage in Indianapolis, a pet project of former mayor Greg Ballard, is a spectacular example.
May 30, 2017
Nashville Mayor Megan Barry Just Unveiled Her Blueprint to Fast-Track People-Friendly Streets
Nashville is known as the home of the country music industry -- and a fast-growing region of car-centric sprawl. But local leaders realize they can't accommodate more growth with an outdated, cars-first approach, so Mayor Megan Barry released an action plan yesterday that lays out an ambitious agenda to improve conditions for walking, bicycling, and transit.
May 25, 2017
Federal Judge’s Delay Tactics Threaten to Halt Maryland’s Purple Line
The Purple Line, a light rail project connecting Maryland's Washington, DC, suburbs, has been bogged down since 2014 by a lawsuit from a group of wealthy NIMBYs. Now, thanks to the inaction of U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Leon, the process is dragging on even longer -- and the delays are threatening to kill the project entirely.
May 19, 2017
