Recent Streetsblog LA posts about Streetsblog.net

Seattle housing affordability advocates have been working on some common sense reforms, including one that would allow accessory dwelling units, like granny flats, in single-family neighborhoods. But even that modest change is encountering resistance from some homeowners. And ironically they're drawing strength from the state's environmental laws.

The conventional wisdom holds that the boom in online retail is causing a big increase in truck traffic. But economist Joe Cortright at City Observatory is skeptical.

Even when state DOTs decide to take down a highway, cities often have to fight an uphill battle against entrenched traffic engineering dogma that prioritizes the speed of cars over the health and safety of people.

Many places that get categorized as "suburbs" are actually pretty urban. They may not be located in a central city, but they are compact, walkable places. But the inverse is also true: Large portions of nearly every American city are pretty spread out and suburban in character. A new report from the Urban Land Institute [PDF] divides every metro area into a number of classifications based on density and other factors.

One way around the problem of big trucks is to divide deliveries into smaller loads, carried with smaller vehicles. Jonathan Maus at Bike Portland reports on an encouraging development on that front: UPS is piloting the use of an electric-assist trike for deliveries.

Simply spending a lot on infrastructure is no guarantee of better transportation conditions. It can easily make things worse. Wisconsin is a perfect example.