Today’s Headlines

  • Republican Presidential Hopeful Pawlenty Wants to Privatize Amtrak (The Hill)
  • Public Pays the Price for Privatizing Infrastructure (Politico)
  • Google Robot Cars Would Promote Sprawl (Fast Company)
  • NRDC’s Kaid Benfield: City of Detroit isn’t Shrinking, ‘Right-size’ the Suburbs (Grist)
  • Corporations Realizing Best & Brightest Don’t Want to Work in Suburbs (The New Republic)
  • New Book Tells the Secret History of America’s Interstate Highway System (Infrastructurist)
  • DC Commuter Ferry Service Struggles to Stay Afloat (Washington Post)
  • Sprawl Lobby Still Trying to Make DC Look Like Houston (Greater Greater Washington)
  • China Set to Lap USA with High Speed Rail (Baltimore Sun)

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Is “Sprawl Repair” Worth It?

By Brad Aaron |
Transforming the territory of strip malls and big boxes into walkable places is a hot topic, exemplified by the popular book “Retrofitting Suburbia.” But is it worth the time, money, and effort? Robert Steuteville of Better! Cities & Towns writes that architect Kevin Klinkenberg and development expert Lee Sobel raised the question at this year’s Congress for the […]

Zoning Reform Will Boost Housing Affordability and Walkability in D.C.

By Angie Schmitt |
A change to D.C.’s zoning code will allow homeowners to build and rent out a basement apartment, or an apartment over the garage, without the long, expensive hassle of obtaining special permission. Advocates in many high-rent cities, like Austin, have fought for this kind of legislation. It not only helps alleviate the housing crunch, it also creates better […]

Filling in the Void Left Behind By Sprawl and Abandonment

By Tanya Snyder |
The Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference wrapped up in Cleveland on Friday. It brought hundreds of people together to strategize a way out of the state of abandonment so many urban areas are in. Vacant properties are a symptom of greater social ills: abandonment of cities, poverty, and sprawl. In many places, the foreclosure crisis has […]

Fifteen Is Serene: DC Considers 15 MPH Speed Limits

By Angie Schmitt |
Here’s what’s happening around the Streetsblog Network today: DC Considering 15 MPH Speed Limit on Residential Streets: You’ve heard of the “20’s Plenty” campaign? Well Washington DC will (possibly) do you one better. According to a report from Network blog Greater Greater Washington, the city is considering reducing the speed limit to 15 miles per […]

Walkable Development Is on the Rise in Michigan

By Tanya Snyder |
As the cradle of the car industry, Michigan built out its cities and suburbs exclusively for the automobile after WWII with a fervor that few other states could match. Today the pendulum of public preference is swinging back toward walkability, but much of Michigan’s housing stock is stuck in the old model. Just 8 percent of homes in […]