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In Major Shift, Central Cities Edging Out Sprawl in Competition for Jobs
Job sprawl -- picture suburban office parks with lots of parking -- might be past its peak. The last few years have been good ones for central cities, as far as job growth is concerned, and not so hot for mid-height, reflective glass office campuses.
February 24, 2015
50 Years After a Highway Revolt, a Quiet Surrender
Can cities that won highway fights two generations ago still defeat destructive road projects today?
February 20, 2015
Portland Sued Over Faded Crosswalk Where Driver Killed Two People
The family of a young woman who was killed trying to cross a Portland road is suing the city for not properly maintaining the crosswalk where she was struck by a driver.
February 18, 2015
High-Rises Don’t Cause Traffic; Parking Lots Do
Few things evoke carmaggedon hysteria quite like the construction of a tall residential building. As Austin has seen more growth, some have seized on the relatively few high-density housing developments as a source of the region's traffic problem.
February 17, 2015
Are Engineers Allowed to Speak Up for Reforming Their Profession?
In a case that has attracted the attention of the Union of Concerned Scientists, well-known and outspoken civil engineer Chuck Marohn of Strong Towns recently had his professional license challenged by a fellow engineer.
February 13, 2015
Upending the Assumption That Transportation Policy Is All About “Mobility”
Charles Marohn at Strong Towns has been giving some thought to what's ailing the Minnesota Department of Transportation. And he traces the agency's biggest problems back to its core assumptions.
February 11, 2015
U.S. DOT’s 30-Year Forecast for Transportation: Not Bold Enough
Last week, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx unveiled "Beyond Traffic," U.S. DOT's 30-year framework for transportation. There's a lot to like inside, says Deron Lovaas at the Natural Resources Defense Council's Switchboard blog. The report does a good job addressing the realities of climate change and discussing how to safeguard our transportation system to the extent possible. It discusses long-term changes in the transportation preferences. And it attempts to measure the success of major Obama-era programs like the 2009 stimulus bill and TIGER.
February 10, 2015
How Do the “Best Cities for Families” Rankings Get it so Wrong?
City rankings that purport to reveal the best place to raise a family are ubiquitous. Where I live, in northeast Ohio, it's the homogeneous, sprawling suburbs that tend to be very proud of their positions on these lists.
February 10, 2015
Making the Case for a Transit-First Street By Recording a Bike Ride
Commuting in the Silicon Valley is a nightmare, writes Richard Masoner at Cyclelicious, and that's by design. For the last 50 years, housing and employment growth have occurred in separate areas. And with streets that prioritize car traffic above all, the trip between home and work has gotten progressively more miserable.
February 6, 2015
In a First, Seattle’s Metro Transit Will Be Funded By Carbon Offsets
Here's an interesting new type of revenue stream for transit. The King County Council, which encompasses the Seattle region, recently enacted legislation enabling Metro Transit to receive revenue from the sale of carbon offsets.
February 4, 2015