Month: August 2009

Now that the first round of applications to the federal government for the $8 billion in High Speed Rail which means it's more than past time to make the case that California deserves more than its share of those funds.  California has two applications in to the the USDOT for two segments of the project that should eventually connect San Francisco to San Diego.

(editor's note: The idea of opening streets to bicyclists and pedestrians by closing them to vehicular traffic for temporary car-free parties has become such a mainstream idea in places such as New York and San Francisco that even Fox News is joining in on the fun.  Head's up Mayor Villaraigosa!  Below is NYC Streetsblog's Brad Aaron's coverage of the coverage is below.)

Yesterday we featured a post from The Urbanophile about the political and personal costs of carlessness in a small city. Today, we've got something of an antidote to that -- an entry from Streetsblog Network member Bike Skirt in Birmingham, Alabama, about the sense of liberation, connection and empowerment that giving up a car can bring.

NYT Op-Ed: No Need to Conserve, Chicken Little; There’s Plenty of Oil Out There Despite Massive Cuts Statewide, Legislators Find Cash to Give Raises to Their Staff (Daily News) Bicycle Fixation Makes the Business Case for Bike Facilities (LA Business Journal) Creak Freak Makes the Water Case for Bike Facilities Rustic LA County Communities “The … Continued

This summer, The Bicycle Film Festival, presented by 42BELOW, returns to Los Angeles for the SIXTH year to present a cultural phenomenon like no other. Originating in New York City, the festival is a voice for the most powerful and culturally relevant movement of the past decade: the urban bike movement. The BFF brings together many creative communities, including fashion, music and art as well as various bicycling communities – including fixed gear, BMX, and road cycling - over a shared passion for bike riding.

For anyone that's missed the news, the Bicycle Film Festival is coming back to Los Angeles this week with events running from Wednesday until Friday.  Anyone familiar with the Festival knows it's about a lot more than just bicycles or films.  This year's festival includes a concert featuring rock band Deerhunter on Wednesday, an arts show opening on Thursday and running all weekend and street party on Sunday.

This is the big problem with Ed Glaeser's New York Times posts purporting to analyze the costs and benefits of a high speed rail system.

Last Thursday "DJ Wheels" spent his day attending the arraignment of Robert Sanchez, the driver accused of killing Rod Armas and his fourteen year old son at the end of the L.A. Wheelman's June Grand Tour Double Century and then pedaling downtown to get an update on the trial of Alejandro Hidalgo, the driver accused of killing Jesus Castillo in a hit-and-run last April.

What kind of a statement does car-free living make in a small city? Today on the Streetsblog Network, Aaron Renn at The Urbanophile poses that question in a provocative post. Sure, it's about walking the walk of sustainable transportation, he says, but it also represents a withdrawal from the community structure in places such as Columbus and Cincinnati: