Streetsblog.net

As soon as some consensus emerges about a demographic trend pointing to positive signs for cities, you can count on leading suburban crusader Joel Kotkin to say the experts have it wrong. Kotkin would like you to believe that he's the one true voice in demographic trends, and in his view, it's always the suburbs that come out on top.

The project to replace and expand the I-5 bridge between Oregon and Washington, a.k.a. the "Columbia River Crossing," has been watched by transportation experts around the country as a case study in the dynamics of a highway boondoggle. Earlier this year, when state lawmakers in Washington State refused to fund their portion of the project, observers proclaimed the project dead.

Rail riders and advocates in Indiana won a big one this week, securing the additional state funding needed to keep Amtrak's Hoosier State line operating four days a week between Indianapolis and Chicago. It was the last, and most hotly contested, of the 19 agreements Amtrak was required to negotiate with 15 states in order to maintain service on its "state-supported" routes.

In the six years that Janette Sadik-Khan has headed the New York City Department of Transportation, streets have been transformed. Across the five boroughs, 26 acres of asphalt were converted into 50 pedestrian plazas. New bus lanes are speeding transit trips on major thoroughfares in Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island, and soon Brooklyn. The city added dozens of miles of protected on-street bike lanes -- groundbreaking designs for an American city -- and 350 miles of bikeways overall. The biggest bike-share system in the country launched this May, and now regularly sees 40,000 trips per day.

America can be a hostile place for people who don't drive, and the difficulty is obviously compounded for people who can't drive because of physical limitations. Even for someone in peak physical condition, crossing suburban arterial roads, waiting for infrequent buses, and traversing enormous parking lots can be unpleasant at best and dangerous at worst.

One of the most exciting American cities for livable streets right now is Memphis, Tennessee, whose progressive mayor, A.C. Wharton, has championed the expansion of the bike network and helped the city secure the sought-after guidance of national bike infrastructure experts with the Green Lane Project.

One of the biggest sacrifices we've made in the United States to prioritize the movement of automobiles over active transportation is the health and safety of children. Biking and walking to school has become increasingly rare while childhood obesity is on its way to becoming the norm.

Everyone has an opinion about roundabouts. Studies show they're safer and more environmentally friendly. But they tend to inspire a lot of kvetching because a lot of Americans don't know how they work.

While some legislators in the United States want to keep cyclists off the roads, a city in Bolivia is taking the opposite tack. Cochabamba, population 700,000, is actually considering a law requiring that residents make use of bicycles to help preserve the environment and improve public health, according to reports.