Ideas, inspirations and discussionson creating better, smarter cities

Walk To School? Bike? Not 87% of American Kids

What kind of world have we made when our families won’t let our kids walk or bike to school? Danger, fear, obesity, dependency.

Bikes as Pedestrians: Osaka/Kyoto

Stepping out the door onto the sidewalk in Kyoto and Osaka can take a while to get used to with all the bicycles whirring by, sharing the usually tight space with crowds of pedestrians…

The Evolution of Urban Mobility: a short photo essay from the streets of Portland

And Now, Everything You Need to Know About Urban Mobility–in Spanish!

¡Échale un vistazo!

Scholarly article re: the impact of parking requirements on Affordability

Following up on the recent spate of articles on mandating off-street parking, here in Portland and nationally, here’s a research article based on real world experience in Los Angeles: Parking requirements as a barrier to housing development: regulation and reform in Los Angeles Abstract: Using a partial deregulation of residential parking in downtown Los Angeles, [...]

The National Movement to Tame Parking

“Reform is not only adopting good policies but also repealing bad policies. Requiring all buildings to provide ample parking is one such bad policy that cities should repeal.” Portland is going backwards by considering resurrecting the bad policies of the past and is out of touch with national trends. What our neighborhoods need is not more government-mandated, expensive and unneeded off-street parking; rather, we need an intelligent approach to managing cars, including charging for on-street parking…

Off-Street Parking Mandates (continued)

It seems like there is nothing like threatening the loss of a parking spot in front of your house to raise the ire. A voice of reason in this debate is the informal group calling itself Portlanders for Sustainable Development whose letter to the Mayor and City Council appears below. Coming soon will be a [...]

Build it (bike lanes, that is) and they will come!

Portland is heralded for its strong investment in bicycle facilities and is being copied around the continent (think NYC, Vancouver, BC and Chicago). Can’t even remember how many times Bicycling Magazine has called Portland the Best Cycling City in North America. In the past 20 years, Portland has built over 300 miles of bicycle facilities and much of the Portland metropolitan area is not far behind. Well, has it worked? Let’s find out…

Obesity: Not a #firstworldproblem anymore

Once considered the disease of the affluent, obesity and its attendant dysfunction is spreading across the world. The culprits? Nike jumps into the fray in a big way, find out more…

Is reducing car use low hanging fruit for cities?

Good article over at the Guardian on how new approaches to urban mobility have the potential to reduce cities’ carbon emissions. With transportation making up about 20% of a city’s carbon contribution, changes in how we move are critical to address climate change but also, if done right, can make our cities safer, cleaner, quieter [...]