Streetsblog.net
The Vision That Sparked Modern Portland: Where Is It Today?
Portland's rejection of highways in the 1970s and subsequent embrace of transit and bicycling seems like a given today. But not that long ago, that trajectory was just an idea, first expressed in an internal memo at City Hall in 1971.
September 12, 2013
How TIGER Grants Can Transform Smaller American Cities for the Better
Fort Myers, Florida, might seem like an unlikely place for a safe streets revolution, but it's exactly the type of place that needs it most.
September 11, 2013
In Seattle, Neighbors Compel CVS to Build a More Urban Drug Store
A lot of the time, neighborhood-level development fights play out like this story from Arlington, Virginia: Miles Grant at Network blog The Green Miles writes that this transit-accessible D.C. suburb recently saw the opening of 122 units of new affordable housing, which drew 3,600 applications. But Grant points out that there would be more affordable housing units to go around if neighbors hadn't objected to the original 192 units, citing fears about traffic and building height.
September 10, 2013
Suburbs Aren’t the Problem — It’s Bad 20th Century Design
It's easy to take shots at "the suburbs," a catchall term that evokes big box stores, fields of parking lots, and social exclusion. But suburbs don't have to be designed around driving, writes David Levinson at Streets.mn. Many of these places just had the misfortune to be developed at a time when awful planning practices were ascendant:
September 9, 2013
Stand Clear of the Doors — It’s Time for a Big Mac!
How much exposure to advertising should fare-paying transit users be expected to tolerate? Is a relatively minor fiscal benefit worth slapping ads on every bus, bus stop, subway platform and train car? Where does it end?
September 6, 2013
Tour the Globe With the Streetsblog Network
With dispatches from Latin America, Europe, Asia and beyond, today's Network offerings have a decidedly international flavor.
September 5, 2013
Crowd-Funding a New Public Space in Portland
The state of Oregon is testing a new type of public-private partnership in Portland, where advocates and electeds want to transform a parcel of land into a new park and greenway.
September 4, 2013
What Do We Do When a Reckless Motorist Refuses to Stop Driving?
In August, 20-year-old college student Henry Schmidt was struck and seriously injured by a driver while walking his bike on a Portland street. The motorist reportedly fled the scene, and contacted authorities only after police, acting on an anonymous tip, found her car, which she had taken to a body shop outside of town.
September 3, 2013
Highway Fallout: Images of Cincinnati Before and After the Road Bomb
Aaron Renn at the Urbanophile has been looking at the devastation wrought on different cities by highways. And he's uncovered a pretty dramatic example in these pre- and post-highway photos of Cincinnati's West End.
August 30, 2013
How Do the World’s Cities Stack Up on Walkability?
What makes a great walking city? Wide sidewalks with lots of street life? Low volumes of traffic? Lively pedestrian plazas? Hop-on, hop-off transit?
August 28, 2013