I get lost in a time warp playing with this bike score map. What a pleasant diversion and a bit of fun after being outside on my bike for hours this evening. The map is interesting and useful. Especially diverse and informative are the comments at the side of the scoring of a city. Those …
Bikeability Of 36 Cities — Walk Score Rates Every Address In Each City Read More »
Boyd Cohen, Ph.D. recently came up with a methodology to rank large cities in the U.S. based on how much they are preparing for or trying to counter climate change. He then went on to create and publish a top 10 list of the most “climate-ready” cities. While I think the term “climate-ready” is sort of a mistake, since he focuses more on efforts to stop climate change not adapt to it (which is what I would assume “climate-readiness” would be about), I think the overall idea and methodology looks great.
An EcoLocalizer reader recently shared a great site of his, Modes of Transportation, that helps you find and compare the percentages of people that use varying modes of transportation to get to work in U.S. cities. That is, you can compare: who walks to work more, residents of New York or San Francisco; who bikes more, …
How Does Your City Compare to Others in Bicycling, Walking and Transit? Read More »
Moving Beyond the Automobile: Biking from Streetfilms on Vimeo. New York City, San Francisco, and Portland leaders talking about transportation, bicycling, and improving quality of life.
Southern California is known for its beautiful weather and, ironically, for its auto-centric development patterns. Why not take advantage of that beautiful weather more, some have argued. And they are actually being listened to, finally,.. in Long Beach at least. Long Beach is now constructing a network of separate bike paths. The city currently doesn’t …
If you want to see an idyllic, small Italian city, Perugia may be the place for you. It fits all the characteristics of those beautiful Italian towns from the movies. However, it hasn’t forever. It took visionaries with a green spirit to turn the city around. National Geographic recently covered the transformation of this town …
How Perugia, Italy Said Goodbye to Traffic, Hello to Improved Quality of Life Read More »
Parking, if only there were more of it your life would be easier, right? Not really. Look at the parking lot of a Wal-Mart Supercenter. It spreads everything out so much you “have to” drive from one side of the Wal-Mart to the store on the other side of the shopping center to avoid walking …
Searching for Parking: Enormous Waste of Time & Money (Note: Cars Don’t Fit in the City) Read More »
Big cities are often associated with pollution. However, if you look at pollution per capita, some of the world’s biggest cities are actually quite green. One key reason is that people in many big cities use efficient, public transportation more and drive less, and transportation is one of the leading causes of pollution worldwide. Researchers …
Many of the things we need to do to make cities better for children would also make them better for everyone. But many city planners and others who listen to the complaints of mothers often seem more interesting in saying that mothers shouldn’t expect so much and don’t even see the point that a city …
Why Planning for Children Can Make Cities Better for Everyone Read More »
You probably have no idea what I’m talking about at this point. The term “access” in city planning refers to a person’s ability to get somewhere or something. Makes sense, right. And it’s what city planners are focused on, isn’t it? Not exactly. A lot of planning is focused on “mobility,” a car’s ability to …
In 1981, scholar Donald Appleyard published the book “Livable Streets” (link is to the 2nd edition soon to be published) based on his research into how people experience streets with different traffic volumes. Streetfilms recently covered portions of his research findings in the video above and in their post Revisiting Donald Appleyard’s Livable Streets. As …
Livable Streets are without Car Traffic: Where Did the U.S. Go Wrong? Read More »
The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy recently announced the 2011 Sustainable Transport Award winner, which, as you can see, is Guangzhou, China. Its new bus rapid transit (BRT) system, which integrates bike lanes, bike share and metro stations was a big reason why it won. Here’s a statement from Dario Hidalgo, a member of …
2011 Sustainable Transport Award Winner: Guangzhou, China Read More »
Europe, as we know, has a much different urban fabric — because most of its cities were developed long before cars arrived. They have narrower streets, are more walkable, more bike-friendly, and more pleasant. Nonetheless, Europe went the same route as the U.S. in recent years with the boom of the automobile and started trying …
European Cities Limiting the Car, Improving Quality of Life Read More »
TIME recently featured a video of top U.S. mayors discussing what makes cities smart. If you watch it, you’ll noticed that high-speed rail seems to be a big part of that these days. Interestingly, Fast Company recently had a post on the “10 Smartest Cities on the Planet” as well. Not a bad list it …
What Makes Cities Smart & “10 Smartest Cities on the Planet” Read More »
New Transit Projects for 2011 A comprehensive list of transit projects scheduled to start construction or open in 2011. “Streetcar lines dominate the nation’s new transit construction landscape, but this year only light and commuter rail lines will open for service.” NYC Tries ‘Rapid’ Buses in Bid to Cut Transit Costs The city’s much-maligned bus …
In my graduate studies in city and regional planning, one thing became very obvious to me: cities, by definition and at their best, are densely-populated places. However, with the rapid rise of automobile use, North American cities have been on a low-density trend. Think about it, big vehicles for every individual require tons of big …
Light Rail & Streetcars Becoming More Popular, Transforming Cities Read More »
Here’s our weekly link drop. Hope you enjoy it. New Report: U.S. States Failing at Reducing Transportation Emissions The Natural Resources Defense Council and Smart Growth America released a report, “Getting Back on Track: Aligning State Transportation Policy with Climate Change Goals,” analyzing state-level policies to curb carbon emissions in the transportation sector. With the absence of …
To share more stories with our wonderful readers, I’ve decided to start doing a weekly “link drop” — in other words, I’ll drop links to great stories we couldn’t cover (plus a little intro). Hope you find this helpful and enjoy it. Studies Show the Connection Between Travel Times to Food Stores and Public Health …
The Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) of the news magazine The Economist and leading engineering company Siemens just released the Latin American Green City Index [PDF], an index measuring the sustainability of 17 key Latin American cities. Believe it or not, Latin America is the most urbanized area of the world according to the United Nations. 81% of the …
Topping yet another bicycle list, Amsterdam is #1 here because of the great bicycle photos to follow along with the fact that 40% of traffic is bicycle traffic in Amsterdam and the city is full of bicycle facilities, including a 10,000-bicycle parking garage at its train station. Amsterdam may not have as high a percentage …
#1 Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Great Bicycle City Photo Tour Read More »
