Streetsblog.net

In Atlanta, the regional planning commission recently created a "millennial advisory committee" in response to lackluster retention of young college grads. Bradley Calvert at Family Friendly Cities notes that the agency should be even more alarmed by the drop in the population of kids in the city:

A 7-year-old girl was critically injured in Springfield, Massachusetts, last night trying to cross the street to reach the library. Her 8-year-old cousin was also seriously injured in the collision. The younger girl is not expected to live, according to reports.

CityLab ran an article recently about how smaller delivery trucks could be coming to U.S. cities, with the makers of 15-foot cargo vans used in many European cities poised to begin marketing them in the United States.

Have you ever been to a McDonald's and noticed bikes locked to trees, fences, or signposts? Andrew Besold at WalkBikeJersey has, and he thinks a campaign to get fast food restaurants to adopt standards for good bike parking could have a very far-reaching impact:

Protests following a Missouri grand jury's failure to indict Officer Darren Wilson for shooting and killing Michael Brown spilled out onto highways in several American cities on Monday evening and Tuesday. Protesters occupied freeways in Los Angeles, Seattle, Oakland, Milwaukee, Atlanta, St. Louis, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Chicago. (One reported incident of road rage at the protests -- a Minnesota man who ran over a woman in downtown Minneapolis -- happened on a surface street.)

A crucial Seattle street is getting the protected bike lane treatment thanks to the hard work of local advocates.

Rochester residents are experimenting with a simple idea to make riding the bus a little more comfortable.

There's a notion that remains very pervasive in certain quarters -- *cough* Joel Kotkin *cough* -- that the reason so many American cities are sprawling and suburban is the natural result of market forces. Essentially, Americans love driving and big yards and so that's what we get.

The notion of cities as playgrounds for the young and unattached remains a pretty pervasive concept.