Recent Streetsblog LA posts about Streetsblog.net

At the end of the day, it’s just paint. But green bike lanes and intersection treatments have a powerful appeal to cyclists, writes Dan Malouff at Beyond DC, because of what they say about streets: The real reason cyclists love green-painted bike lanes so much is simple: They send the clearest-possible message that roads are […]

As the economy gradually improves, some transit budgets are looking a little rosier. In a few rare cases, transit agencies even have a surplus and need to decide how to handle it. One city wrestling with this question is Portland, where Tri-Met will either restore service that was recently cut or lower fares by extending […]

In the quest for safer cycling, the village of Oak Park just outside Chicago has gone punitive. This leafy suburb recently enacted a mandatory helmet law for children under 17. Parents of tykes riding trikes and Huffys could face fines and community service if their children are caught without a styrofoam cap. Attorney Brendan Kevenides […]

How will Americans get around in the year 2030? A recent report from the RAND Corporation lays out two “plausible futures” developed though a “scenario analysis” and vetted by outside experts. While RAND takes a decidedly agnostic stance toward the implications of each scenario, the choice that emerges is still pretty stark. In the first […]

Walmart’s anxiously anticipated move into cities is well underway in our nation’s capital. The first two stores in Washington, DC, open today. How has the retail giant adapted its monolithic suburban stores and gigantic parking lots to city settings? Richard Layman at Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space has been evaluating how the DC Walmarts […]

America’s enormous, land-devouring parking lots are largely the result of pseudoscientific engineering conventions and the regulations that reflect them. These laws — parking minimums — often require retailers to build enough spaces to accommodate every anticipated automobile on the busiest shopping day of the year, explains Chuck Marohn at Strong Towns: For years, American cities […]