Barack Obama is justly renowned for his speaking style; he chooses his words with professorial precision. But on today’s featured Streetsblog Network post, the NRDC‘s Deron Lovaas, writing at The Infrastructurist, points out that the president used the "H" word — that would be "highways" — inaccurately during a recent visit to the USDOT: Photo […]

Is the whole plummeting economy thing forcing you take stock of what you truly value in life? Yep, us too. And we’ll take a wild guess that accessible, beautiful public spaces are on the short list for you as well. Photo by Petra and Baby Z via Flickr. Which is why, today on the Streetsblog […]

Several Streetsblog Network members, including the Bicycle Coalition of Philadelphia and Decatur Metro, have blogged about the latest numbers from traffic information firm INRIX, which show declining congestion in 2008 vs. 2007 in nearly every metro area surveyed (Baton Rouge, LA, bucks the trend; go figure). INRIX reports "peak hour congestion on the major roads […]

Yesterday was a big day for livable streets and progressive transportation advocates — and not just because of what happened in New York City. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) speaking at the launch of Transportation for America’s campaign platform. Photo by Steve Davis/Transportation for America. Down in DC, Transportation for America went to the U.S. Capitol […]

Today, The Transport Politic continues its excellent coverage of high-speed rail proposals around the country with a comprehensive roundup of the projects that will be vying for federal funds in the months to come. As Yonah Freemark writes, Photo by reallyboring via Flickr. The economic stimulus bill included $8 billion for high-speed rail projects. Though […]

This morning on the Streetsblog Network, we’re featuring a thoughtful post from Greater Greater Washington in which David C dares to challenge the very foundation of the "American Dream" — home ownership. Photo by Transguyjay via Flickr. A variety of government policies and programs have dramatically increased home ownership. But lately, some have been advocating […]

Today on the Streetsblog Network, we step back and take a look at a philosophical question, courtesy of Kaid Benfield at NRDC Switchboard. As we go forward into the 21st century, trying to create sustainable communities, how do we deal with the aging relics of the 20th century’s development patterns? Can we make beauty a […]

Last week, Obama DOT Secretary Ray LaHood caused quite a buzz by discussing, in an interview with an AP reporter, the idea of taxing motorists on the number of miles they travel rather than the amount of gas they burn. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs quickly came out and publicly contradicted LaHood, saying a […]

Streetsblog Network member blog Greater Greater Washington has been ramping up coverage of crashes that result in pedestrian and cyclist injuries and fatalities (they’ve got a new safety beat reporter, Stephen Miller), and in a recent post they highlighted the car-centric thinking of local law enforcement: Photo by sirwiseowl via Flickr. DC police officer David […]

Over the last few weeks, President Obama has made a few different statements that have gotten the attention of urbanists and sustainable transportation advocates. Could it be? Does this guy really get it? And if so, what is he going to do about it? Deron Lovaas of NRDC Switchboard has done a great job of […]

Now that the president has signed the stimulus bill, members of the Streetsblog Network have thrown themselves into the task of trying to figure out where all that money is going. To that end, we’re featuring Transportation for America‘s "Full Summary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009", a handy roundup of the […]

So the wheeling and dealing over the stimulus bill is done, and the spending, presumably, is soon to begin. Members of the Streetsblog Network are looking at what it means for their communities. Photo by elventear via Flickr. In the case of Wisconsin, according to James Rowen at The Political Environment, the biggest roads serving […]