The Transformative Potential of Bike Sharing
Can a bike-sharing program transform a city? To mark the second anniversary of the Vélib system in Paris, Streetsblog Network member World Streets has a post arguing that it can, if it's done on a sufficient scale:
July 27, 2009
Fun and Games With Transportation
It's Friday. It's summer. Let's face it, you shouldn't be looking at a computer right now.
July 24, 2009
Fighting to Take Back Louisville’s Waterfront
Today on the Streetsblog Network, we're headed to Louisville, Kentucky, where Broken Sidewalk highlights grassroots efforts to prevent a massive expansion of the I-64 highway on the Ohio River waterfront.
July 23, 2009
Vancouver Gives a Bridge Lane to Bikes
New York isn't the only city that's experimenting with closing roads to improve traffic and create better conditions for pedestrians and cyclists. Today, from Streetsblog Network member Human Transit, we hear of a bridge in Vancouver where a lane of car traffic has been given over to cyclists:
July 22, 2009
Turning a Blind Eye to the Risks of Auto Culture
In today's New York Times article about how the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration withheld research data on the risks of cellphone use while driving, one little nugget in particular caught my attention:
July 21, 2009
How Much Do Bicyclists Really Slow Down Drivers?
What is it about bicycles that drives some motorists so crazy?
July 20, 2009
Can We Create More Meaningful City Rankings?
They seem to be coming out at an ever-increasing pace: rankings of cities and nations based on how livable they are, or how bicycle friendly, or how green and happy, put together by various advocacy groups, think tanks and magazines. The media loves to pick these up, and let's face it, they're fun. But as Alex Steffen points out in a post today on WorldChanging, they can sometimes be counterproductive.
July 17, 2009
Car-Sharing and the Case for a “Low-Car Diet”
Anyone who makes any effort to live more sustainably has been there -- facing the accusation that what you're doing isn't enough. That you're compromising, and that your willingness to deviate from a purist approach invalidates your efforts. Sometimes these accusations come from within. And sometimes they make you want to give up. It's the old problem of letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.
July 16, 2009
In Flint, Trying to Reinvent a Shrinking City
Yesterday on the Streetsblog Network, we looked at the concept of "resilient cities" -- an idea that some of our commenters on Streetsblog NY and Streetsblog LA sites frankly weren't buying.
July 15, 2009
Cities Must Become More Resilient to Survive
The idea that cities are greener than suburbs has gotten a lot of attention lately. But a recently published book argues that in a future of diminishing resources, cities themselves are going to have to become much more efficient and inventive if they are to be sustainable -- indeed, if they are to survive at all.
July 14, 2009