As Minneapolis considers dropping parking minimums for residential developments near transit, Seattle may soon be talking about doing away with driveways for single-family houses. Erica C. Barnett at Seattle Transit Blog writes that Mayor Ed Murray’s committee on affordable housing and urban livability has drafted a proposal to replace single-family zoning with a new designation that would […]

In June Streets.mn reported that Minneapolis might drop parking minimums for residential developments near transit stations. By doing so, the city would promote walkable development and reduce housing costs. However, City Council President Barb Johnson wants to exclude neighborhoods in north Minneapolis from the parking reforms. Writing at Streets.mn, affordable housing expert Kris Brogan says […]

Here’s something you don’t see every day. Or ever. Charles Marohn at Strong Towns reports that the director of the Iowa DOT, Paul Trombino, said his state’s transportation system is overbuilt and unsustainable. Trombino said Iowans will have to decide what to maintain and what they are willing to let go. Marohn quotes from Trombino’s remarks: I […]

Yesterday we ran a post from Michael Andersen about how Newark fixed the glut of parked cars on Mount Prospect Avenue, the first street in New Jersey to get a protected bike lane: Instead of letting people park in the bikeway, the city started charging for parking. With a price on parking, people stopped storing their cars […]

Indianapolis passed a Complete Streets ordinance in 2012 to much fanfare. Three years later, how well is the city designing streets for walking and biking? Mayor Greg Ballard shepherded the fantastic Indianapolis Cultural Trail through to completion in 2013, but Emily Neitzel at Urban Indy says recent street revamps outside the downtown area are hit and […]

When a politician like Maryland Governor Larry Hogan kills off a transit project, not only does he rob citizens of anticipated improvements, he could be wiping out decades of intricate planning. Dan Malouff at Greater Greater Washington notes that by 2019 it will have taken 34 years to complete the Metro’s Silver Line, which will connect […]

A new report that quantifies development in walkable urban places (“WalkUPs”) has good news for Atlanta. Darin at ATL Urbanist reports: A full 50 percent of new properties developed in the Atlanta region from 2009-2014 happened in walkable urban places, which is not only a higher amount than what’s happening in the other regions as charted […]

Streets designed to facilitate fast driving are not suitable for safe walking. Unfortunately, transportation engineers often don’t design for safety unless a catastrophic event triggers public outcry. Katie Matchett at Where the Sidewalk Starts says the city of San Diego is planning changes at one intersection in an area where motorists routinely hit and injure people, but only after […]

What does Congress envision for the future of transportation in the U.S.? Hint: The Senate’s transportation bill is called the DRIVE Act. Caron Whitaker at the League of American Bicyclists reports: As is evident in the acronym, The Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act, or DRIVE Act, is not focused on improving multi-modal transportation but rather […]

If you live in a city where people are trying to make it easier and safer to get around on foot, by bike, or via transit, you’ve probably heard that what works in other towns won’t work in yours. Amsterdam is often held up as a place where people magically move about using bicycles, trams, and their own […]

Is this really the best we can do? Dave Alden at Vibrant Bay Area writes that the above ad from Dignity Health (dignity!) depicting a driver getting out of his car to help a senior avoid being run over in a crosswalk is a pretty skewed notion of “human kindness.” [I]sn’t there something unkind about forcing the woman to […]

Publicly-financed arenas for privately-owned sports franchises are usually a bad deal for taxpayers. And the proposal for a new Milwaukee Bucks facility looks like a humdinger. Patrick Small at Urban Milwaukee reports that city officials, including Mayor Tom Barrett, haven’t told residents exactly how much they could be on the hook for — though so far the Bucks have […]