Cities and Countries
Streetsblog Basics
Some Things You Might See While In Amsterdam
I'm currently on a European junket, and ahead of the more serious Streetfilms that will come out of it, I thought it would be prudent to put up some everyday street scenes of bicycling in Amsterdam.
July 15, 2013
Car Ownership May Be Down in the U.S., But It’s Soaring Globally
Two weeks ago, transportation researcher Michael Sivak brought us the news that there are fewer cars per person in the U.S. now than there were a few years ago – and that the number isn’t expected to rise again.
July 5, 2013
Salt Lake City: A Red State Capital Builds Ambitious Transit
According to Congress for New Urbanism President John Norquist, the Salt Lake City area has the fastest growing rail system in America. And as Streetsblog's Angie Schmitt pointed out last month, "It's the only city in the country building light rail, bus rapid transit, streetcars and commuter rail at the same time."
July 2, 2013
Highway Revolts Break Out Across the Midwest
The evolution of state and regional transportation agencies is painfully slow in places like Missouri and Ohio, where officials are plowing ahead with pricey highway projects conceived of decades ago. But plenty of Midwesterners have different ideas for the future of their communities, and they aren't shy about speaking up.
June 28, 2013
St. Louis Punts on Highway Teardown, for Now
For three years, grassroots advocates in St. Louis have been pressing for the removal of elevated portions of I-70 through downtown. This group of urbanists and architects, with little to no financial support, came together to make the case for highway removal.
June 27, 2013
FHWA: Oklahoma DOT Must Consider Restoring Street Grid in Downtown OKC
In a rare victory against state DOT standard operating procedure, residents of Oklahoma City last week managed to compel the Oklahoma Department of Transportation to consider a redeveloped street grid as an alternative to a wide, high-speed boulevard through the city's downtown.
June 24, 2013
Detroit’s Regional Planners Need to Kick the Highway Habit
They say the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. But the people who shape the future of greater Detroit -- despite all the urban flight, sprawl, and decline they've seen -- just can't seem to acknowledge that they have an addiction to big highway projects. On the agenda Thursday for the regional planning commission, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, are two highway expansion plans that will cost an astounding $4 billion combined.
June 19, 2013
The Indianapolis Cultural Trail: America’s Next-Gen Protected Bike Lanes
In May, the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, a bike and pedestrian path connecting some of Indy's most popular cultural institutions, had its long-awaited public coming out with a ribbon cutting and celebration. It's one of the biggest bicycling infrastructure achievements in North America, and yet it's still practically a secret.
June 12, 2013
Can Phoenix Reinvent Itself as a Transit City?
Perhaps no other city in the country has the reputation for sprawl that Phoenix does, and it is well deserved. This is a city built around the car -- until 2008, sprawling suburban housing in Maricopa County was the driving force of the regional economy.
June 11, 2013