Suburbia
Streetsblog Basics
Tuesday’s Headlines: Suburban Agonistes Edition
Long Island Newsday has replaced the Times as the target of our outrage.
November 19, 2024
DR: STRANGECAR: Or How I Learned to Keep Worrying and Hate E-Cars
June 23, 2022
Residential-Parking Permits: An Idea Whose Time Has Come?
It's been tried all over the country, with some big hiccups. But parking management could succeed here. The key word is "could."
August 20, 2019
A New Approach to Retrofitting a Dangerous Suburban Road
The Syracuse suburb of Dewitt is overhauling its wide, dangerous traffic artery -- and putting bikes at the center.
April 13, 2018
What American Commuter Rail Can Learn From Paris
In the U.S., regional rail is mostly good for one type of trip: the commute. But in Paris, regional rail is oriented toward all types of trips, and people ride throughout the day, not just at rush hour. One key to success is running frequent, predictable service all day long.
February 13, 2017
The Suburbs Aren’t Dying — They’re Growing Differently
Cross-posted from the Frontier Group.
January 26, 2015
Will Montgomery County Botch the Streets in a Model Suburban Retrofit?
Four years ago, White Flint, a neighborhood of North Bethesda, Maryland, most known for its shopping mall, caught the attention of urbanists around the nation with a proposal to reimagine car-oriented suburban streets as a walkable, mixed-use, transit-oriented neighborhood. Montgomery County adopted a plan for the town that would narrow its wide arterial roadways and make them safe and accommodating for transit riders, bicyclists, and pedestrians. It was hailed as a model for other suburbs around the nation looking to become less sprawling and more walkable.
October 1, 2014
Survey: Freedom From Car Dependence Appeals Across Generations
When it comes to what Millennials and Baby Boomers look for in a community, the generation gap may be overstated.
April 30, 2014
Suburbs Are Out, Cities Are In — Now What?
Today’s Times devotes two pieces to the “suburbs are out, cities are in” phenomenon that has taken root in much of the country over the past few decades -- the great inversion, urbanologist Alan Ehrenhalt has dubbed this reversal of the suburbanization wave that swept through the U.S. in the last century. Though both pieces will pretty much be old hat to Streetsblog readers, they’re interesting nonetheless, both as signposts and for what they leave out.
April 17, 2014
Strong Towns’ Chuck Marohn: Why Suburban Growth Is a Ponzi Scheme
Chuck Marohn cofounded the non-profit Strong Towns in 2009. Since then he has steadily built an audience for his message about the financial folly of car-centric planning and growth. The suburban development pattern that has prevailed since the end of World War II has resulted in what Marohn calls "the growth Ponzi scheme" -- a system that isn't viable in the long run because it cannot bring in enough revenue to cover its costs.
July 18, 2013