Streetsblog
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Where Walkability and Affordability Overlap in the D.C. Region
Neighborhoods that are walkable, affordable for lower-income households, and provide access to jobs for people without a car are far too rare.
September 20, 2016
This Week: Shaping the Streets of Downtown Far Rockaway
City Hall has set aside $9 million to improve streets near Mott Avenue in Downtown Far Rockaway. Ideas floated earlier this year include several pedestrian safety and public space enhancements. But word is the project doesn't do much for cycling, despite the need for safer biking conditions on streets like Beach Channel Drive. It's not too late to shape the project: The city and Council Member Donovan Richards are holding a hearing tomorrow to collect ideas from local residents.
September 19, 2016
Let Providence Decide the Fate of Its Aging Highway Relic
The campaign to remove a 1960s-era highway relic in Providence, Rhode Island, known as the 6/10 Connector looked like it could go the distance. Local advocates had built broad support for the idea of replacing the two-mile highway segment with an at-grade boulevard that makes room for transit and bicycling while mending the divide between neighborhoods.
September 19, 2016
Seattle’s Decade-Long Shift Away From Solo Car Commuting
New Census data is out on how Americans commute, and the standout success story is Seattle, where the rate of people who drive alone to work dropped 8.8 percent over the last decade.
September 16, 2016
Complete Streets Won’t Work Without Complete Bridges
Networks of safe walking and biking infrastructure won't work very well if they're interrupted by bridges that are dangerous or stressful to cross. But when transportation agencies fix up bridges, their instinct is often to do the least for walking and biking that they can get away with.
September 15, 2016
After Epic Struggle, the Cincinnati Streetcar Is Finally a Reality
What a long, difficult journey it's been for streetcar advocates in Cincinnati. After battling an extremely hostile state government, the project was nearly killed in the early stages of construction by an adversarial mayor. But a groundswell of grassroots support for the project pushed it over the top.
September 14, 2016
Seattle’s Plan to Woo Neighborhoods Into Adopting Smart Parking Prices
Seattle has a housing affordability problem. One way to address that is to reduce the amount of parking required in new residential buildings, lowering construction costs and increasing the number of apartments that can be built.
September 13, 2016
This Week: #RideTogether for Safe Streets for Biking and Walking
More people were killed while biking in NYC during the first eight months of 2016 than all of last year, and total traffic deaths are on track to rise this year as well. It's up to Mayor de Blasio to pick up the pace of street redesigns to save lives, but so far City Hall has resisted Transportation Alternatives' call to invest more in safe streets for walking and biking. On Thursday, you can tell the mayor that the status quo is not acceptable.
September 12, 2016
Wisconsin Pilfers From the Scraps Earmarked For Walking and Biking
About $830 million in federal funds are set aside each year for walking and biking. That's less than 2 percent of total federal transportation spending.
September 12, 2016
Austin Plans a Bus Network Redesign of Its Own
It's hard to overstate the influence of Houston's bus network redesign -- an overhaul of the city's bus routes that aimed to expand access to frequent service. Cities all over the country have taken note and many are reimagining their own bus networks.
September 9, 2016