What Are Cities Doing to Hold on to Families With Kids?
In Atlanta, the regional planning commission recently created a “millennial advisory committee” in response to lackluster retention of young college grads. Bradley Calvert at Family Friendly Cities notes that the agency should be even more alarmed by the drop in the population of kids in the city:
December 4, 2014
A Better Way to Spend $1 Billion Than Ramming More Roads Thru Milwaukee
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is set on widening Interstate 94, a highway that runs east-west through Milwaukee. The agency is so committed to this idea that it is proceeding, at great expense and over the objections of Milwaukee's mayor, with a project to double-deck a portion of the road through a relatively densely populated area. The money that WisDOT is prepared to shell out for this highway expansion could be better spent providing quality transit options along the corridor, the Wisconsin Public Interest Research says in a new report [PDF].
December 3, 2014
Tracing the Life-Altering Injuries of Two Young Girls to Dangerous Design
A 7-year-old girl was critically injured in Springfield, Massachusetts, last night trying to cross the street to reach the library. Her 8-year-old cousin was also seriously injured in the collision. The younger girl is not expected to live, according to reports.
December 3, 2014
Auto Industry Analyst Predicts Decline of the Two-Car Household
Bailey Mareu, 30, and her husband were looking for ways to save money after she left her job to help run the family business in Lawrence, Kansas, two years ago.
December 2, 2014
Why Smaller Delivery Vehicles Could Be Huge for Cities
CityLab ran an article recently about how smaller delivery trucks could be coming to U.S. cities, with the makers of 15-foot cargo vans used in many European cities poised to begin marketing them in the United States.
December 2, 2014
The Spectacular Waste of Half-Empty Black Friday Parking Lots
If there's one thing American planners fear, it's that someone, sometime, somewhere, won't be able to immediately find a parking space. Gigantic manuals have been devoted to avoiding this "problem," and laws have been passed in nearly every community in the nation to ensure that no one ever lacks for parking.
December 1, 2014
What If Every McDonald’s Had Really Good Bike Parking?
Have you ever been to a McDonald’s and noticed bikes locked to trees, fences, or signposts? Andrew Besold at WalkBikeJersey has, and he thinks a campaign to get fast food restaurants to adopt standards for good bike parking could have a very far-reaching impact:
December 1, 2014
No Charges for Driver Who Plowed Into Protesters in Minneapolis
The driver who rammed his way through a crowd protesting the non-indictment of Darren Wilson yesterday afternoon in Minneapolis, injuring a 16-year-old girl, has not been charged with any crime.
November 26, 2014
Why Ferguson Protests Spilled Onto Highways
Protests following a Missouri grand jury's failure to indict Officer Darren Wilson for shooting and killing Michael Brown spilled out onto highways in several American cities on Monday evening and Tuesday. Protesters occupied freeways in Los Angeles, Seattle, Oakland, Milwaukee, Atlanta, St. Louis, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Chicago. (One reported incident of road rage at the protests -- a Minnesota man who ran over a woman in downtown Minneapolis -- happened on a surface street.)
November 26, 2014
States That Ban Traffic Safety Cams Put Their Own Residents’ Lives at Risk
In Ohio, lawmakers are now poised to outlaw traffic safety cameras, needlessly obstructing efforts to save lives. Similar bills were taken up this year in statehouses in Iowa, South Dakota and Missouri. According to the Governor's Highway Safety Association, 12 states have laws that forbid speed cameras under most circumstances.
November 25, 2014