Sarah Goodyear

A couple of hopeful pieces of news from the Pacific Northwest, courtesy of Streetsblog Network member Bike Portland. First off, their fair city has put some exciting bike/ped improvements in its stimulus package request, including the design and construction of a bike-and-pedestrian-only bridge, as well as Portland's first-ever cycle track. The plans call for starting the projects within the next 12 months.

Today on the Streetsblog Network, we're stepping back and taking a look at the big picture. Over at network member Worldchanging, Sarah Kuck writes about the ideas of environmental scientist and sustainability activist Peter Newman. Newman gave a talk in Seattle the other night promoting his forthcoming book, Resilient Cities: Responding to Peak Oil and Climate Change:

What are this society's transportation priorities? As Twin Cities Streets for People points out, the stimulus package is forcing governments and citizens across the country to confront that question. We've got their most recent post on the subject today on the Streetsblog Network.

Today on the Streetsblog Network we're hearing from Santa Rosa CityBus, the only blog on the network (so far) that is written by employees of a municipal transit agency. Their latest post laments the lack of positive press for the bus in general:

(Editor's Note: Earlier in the week when I asked for story suggestions in the new year, there was a mini-discussion of how the new meter-less parking downtown has reduced the amount of places for people to lock their bikes.  Apparently, we're not alone.  For what it's worth, LADOT tells me they're working on a solution.  Stay tuned...)

Last Sunday in New York, the Street Memorial Project organized a ride in memory of the 14 bicyclists and more than 100 pedestrians killed by cars in the city in 2008. You can see the StreetFilm about the ride here.

As Inauguration Day gets closer, talk on the Streetsblog Network is turning back to the stimulus bill being pushed by the new administration. On Saturday, President-elect Obama once again talked to the nation about how he wants to pump federal dollars into infrastructure spending. And once again, while he singled out roads and bridges as worthy of investment, the words "transit" and "rail" never passed his lips. Should we be worrying about this? Or are we trying to read too much into these highly stylized YouTube pronouncements?

A lot of Streetsblog Network members are already starting to wind down for the holidays, and we're all for that. But in Washington, where lawmakers are working on an economic stimulus bill, things are happening that could have major ramifications for many years to come.

(editor's note: I more than understand that the whole point of Streetsblog.net is to help local transportation reform activists see what's going on in other parts of the country.  Even so, it's still weird for me to see a story on the Cyclists' Bill of Rights on NYC Streetsblog.)