Streetsblog.net
Why Were Saudi Women Denied the Right to Bike Until This Week?
In a bit of news that's bound to add some perspective to your local battles, Saudi Arabia this week lifted the ban on public biking for women, sort of. World Streets' Eric Britton relays the report from Al Jazeera:
April 3, 2013
Study: Loosening Parking Mandates Leads to More Affordable Housing
A recent study by Michael Manville at UCLA [PDF] has been making the rounds on the Streetsblog Network. Examining areas of Los Angeles where parking regulations had been loosened, Manville found that "when parking requirements are removed, developers provide more housing and less parking, and also that developers provide different types of housing: housing in older buildings, in previously disinvested areas, and housing marketed toward non-drivers."
April 2, 2013
U.S. DOT, HHS Announce Public Health Campaign to Reduce Driving
We have some sudden, unexpected, exciting news for you today, readers. Across the Streetsblog Network today, bold, smart, truly transformative transportation reforms are being cheerfully reported with surprising regularity.
April 1, 2013
Kansas City Residents to Missouri DOT: Enough With the Highways Already
Usually when we hear news from a Streetsblog Network member about the Missouri Department of Transportation, it's because the agency is blocking ideas like a complete streets bill or a highway-to-boulevard conversion in downtown St. Louis. The advocates at BikeWalkKC report that now the agency is feeling some grassroots resistance to its cars-first approach:
March 29, 2013
Maryland on the Verge of a Fix for Transportation Funding Woes
Maryland is one of a growing number of U.S. states that's found itself in a tough spot when it comes to transportation funding.
March 28, 2013
When the State DOT Stands in the Way of Local Progress
There should be a special term for the all-too-common phenomenon of a state DOT putting the kibosh on a promising local project. DOT-blocking! (Yes, it's pronounced "dot-blocking.")
March 27, 2013
Introducing the Parking Reform Mayoral Candidate
Meet Bill Peduto, a leading mayoral candidate in Pittsburgh who is also a serious urbanist, according to our sources in Pennsylvania.
March 26, 2013
A Hippocratic Oath for People Who Take Care of Cities
The city as an organism -- it's a common analogy, probably in part because it's so instructive.
March 25, 2013
In Many Markets, Rail Beats or Competes With Air Travel
It can seem like the image of Amtrak as a second-rate mode -- a "Soviet-style monopoly" -- is so firmly ingrained that it's hard to shake. Even as more people choose to ride trains.
March 22, 2013
On North American Streets, Space for Bikes Is Right There If You Want It
Imagine how the sheer amount of space given over to cars in North American cities must look to someone from a place with real multi-modal streets. To Copenhagenize's Mikael Colville-Andersen, the word that comes to mind is "arrogance." It's arrogant not just for cars to have so much space, but to doggedly assert that cars can't possibly make do with less.
March 21, 2013