Sarah Goodyear

If you're interested in transportation policy (and we know you are!) it can sometimes seem as if all the problems plaguing America have their root there. Today, we have a reminder from Streetsblog Network member Cap'n Transit that not even transportation can cure all ills. But we also have some very hopeful news from columnist Neal Peirce on the Oregonian's website about the blossoming connection between transportation and urban policy at the federal level (H/T to Portland Transport).

Today on the Streetsblog Network, we hear about the possible misuse of stimulus funds for the widening of the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike in New Jersey. Network member blog Mobilizing the Region, the voice of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, reports that the TSTC has sent a letter to Gov. John Corzine about the matter:

Today Streetsblog Network member blog Hub and Spokes picks up on an interesting story from the LA Times about how falling real estate values could mean an opportunity to develop more public spaces:

Remember congestion pricing? It's not much fun to think about what happened to that idea in New York last year. And considering the craziness that's been going on over bridge tolls in Albany, any kind of road pricing in our fair city certainly seems like a non-starter for the foreseeable future.

These days good news can be hard to come by, which is why Kaid Benfield's most recent post on NRDC Switchboard caught our eye. It's about the Old North neighborhood of St. Louis, and how revitalization efforts there have taken off:

America has a fat problem. You knew that, right? But it's not just the people who are fat. It's the roads.

As today's post from Seattle Transit Blog acknowledges, criticizing the place where someone lives is one of the surest ways to create division and contention when discussing planning issues:

This just in from the Streetsblog Network: Greater Greater Washington takes Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski to task for supporting car sales tax breaks -- and asks how that money could be better spent:

Some thoughts today from one of the newest members of the Streetsblog Network -- from Missoula, Montana, Imagine No Cars. The blog's author is a University of Montana student who is chronicling his year of living without a motor vehicle. He calls the blog "a journal of my journey to live a car-free lifestyle. An experiment to bike, walk, and bus it through the next year of my life. What will not using a car mean?" (Check out his photostream on Flickr, too. Some nice stuff there.)