Friday’s Headlines Walk the Line
If you're a capitalist, the market says there's a premium for living in a walkable neighborhood. So why not supply more to meet demand?
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EST on December 19, 2025
- Almost 80 percent of homebuyers, including even larger proportions of Gen Z and Millennials, are willing to pay more for a house in a walkable area (CNU Public Square). Since they’re so desirable, why not make more neighborhoods walkable, and build walkable neighborhoods instead of autocentric sprawl?
- Blue states are suing the Trump administration again, alleging that it illegally canceled electric vehicle charger programs. (E&E News; paywall)
- Take it easy on the road salt: Some streams in Northeastern states are twice as salty as seawater, killing aquatic life, according to a Penn State study. While it’s needed to keep roads passable, salt can be used more judiciously. (WHYY)
- As the World Cup and the Olympics approach, Los Angeles is spending $1.5 billion on road projects around LAX that will actually make traffic worse. (L.A. Times)
- San Diego’s plans for a $100 billion-plus transit expansion set to go before voters is getting less and less ambitious in the face of rising construction costs and topography challenges. (Union-Tribune)
- Arizona Republicans are jeopardizing Phoenix’s chances to obtain federal funding for extending light rail. (KJZZ)
- The Charlotte Area Transit System is dealing with the fallout from two high-profile stabbings. WCCB sent a reporter to St. Louis, where a MetroLink official blamed fare evasion for crime.
- Nashville will never be safe until the city gets as serious about transit and sidewalks as it is about a new football stadium, writes a former member of the traffic and parking commission. (Tennessee Lookout)
- Lime bike and e-scooter rentals in Seattle rose 61% this year, and the Pike Place Market was Lime’s most popular destination in North America. (Secret Seattle)
- A Kansas City Magazine writer rode the length of newly extended streetcar line and called it “a thread connecting our city.”
- Missoula approved final plans for $24 million worth of transportation projects, including a riverside trail and downtown road diet. (Current)
- My conservative hometown of Trussville, Alabama on the outskirts of Birmingham received a $30,000 state grant to fill a sidewalk gap connecting an elementary school to two trails, allowing students to safely walk to a nearby river for lessons (ABC 33/40). If they can do it, anyone can.
Blake Aued has been doing Streetsblog's daily national news digest for years. He's also an Atlanta Braves fan, which enrages his editor in New York.
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