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Got an Urban Infrastructure Issue? Make the Bureaucrat Work!
The problem of inadequate infrastructure is not unique to the United States. Nor is the scourge of political dysfunction that leaves commuters stranded waiting for the next bus, pedestrians sprinting across eight lanes of traffic, and motorists stuck in gridlock.
August 7, 2012
When the Streets Belonged to All, and All Belonged on the Streets
It's been a little over a year since Raquel Nelson was convicted of vehicular homicide for attempting to cross a street with her kids in suburban Atlanta. Much of the public responded not with outrage, or demands that municipalities improve conditions for pedestrians, but with victim-blaming vitriol, passed along in news stories with headlines like "Jaywalkers Take Deadly Risks."
August 6, 2012
High Economic Stakes for Pittsburgh as Transit Doomsday Looms
It was a rough few decades, but Rust Belt stalwart Pittsburgh seems to be pulling ahead. This former steel town, its name once synonymous with industrial decline, has rebuilt its economy largely around higher education. It recently attracted a Google corporate office.
August 3, 2012
Metro Atlanta’s Sales Tax “Savings” Will Come at a High Price
It's rare that a region attempts a transportation vote as potentially transformative as the one that took place Tuesday in Atlanta. And even though voters elected not to act -- voting down a package of 157 transit and road projects totaling more than $7 billion -- that doesn't mean nothing's going to change for this sprawling, southeastern metropolis.
August 2, 2012
Montgomery County Legalizes Two-Family Houses (But Not Really)
American zoning policies serve as a massive subsidy to sprawl, but the actual market-distorting regulations and their costs can be hard to tease out.
August 1, 2012
Portland to Rewrite Car-Centric Street Engineering Standard
"Level of Service," or LOS, for short, is the rather arcane engineering standard that has turned streets all over America into funnels for car traffic.
July 31, 2012
The Politics of the I-35 Bridge Catastrophe: Not Just Minnesota’s Problem
An ambitious politician drawing a hard line against tax increases, even as gas tax revenues dwindle. A state department of transportation with limited resources. Warning signs pushed aside.
July 30, 2012
Coming to a Walkable Place Near You: More Efficient Housing
Meeting the demand for housing is one of the biggest challenges facing America's most walkable, transit-oriented cities.
July 26, 2012
Maybe What We Need Is Ghost Cars
Ghost bikes -- white-painted, road-side memorials to cyclists who died in traffic -- not only honor those who have lost their lives on the roads, but also remind drivers of their responsibilities toward more vulnerable people on the street.
July 25, 2012