Streetsblog Network

A lot of big, surprising revelations are happening in the livable streets movement around the country today. Here's a sample of what Streetsblog Network members are reporting.

There's a contentious debate happening in greater Portland about a highway expansion. Suburbanites are in favor, writes Scott Johnson at Portland Transport, and Portland residents are just as adamantly opposed.

Indianapolis might not be known as a transit city -- yet -- but a legislative breakthrough at the statehouse this week opens the door for dramatic improvements to its transit system.

Inspired by New York City, Philadelphia has created its own pedestrian plaza program. Unfortunately, Philadelphia's ambitions have so far been hindered by some pretty zealous restrictions, like one that would require 100 percent of adjacent property owners to agree to the change.

A Portland woman whose son was killed by a drunk hit-and-run driver has proposed a new method to apprehend motorists who flee the scene of a deadly collision. She hopes to bring an Amber Alert-like notification system to Portland to help nab the bad guys. The proposal is based on a system that's already up and running in Denver, reports Michael Andersen at Bike Portland:

This is an illuminating chart, produced by Richard Bose at Network blog NextSTL. It shows how Missouri electeds have let the gas tax steadily erode in real dollars while transit riders have been subjected to repeated fare increases.

Chalk up a win for the Amtrak marketing team, which has drummed up a tonofmedia coverage with its new residency program for writers.

The DC suburb of Rockville, Maryland, is quietly becoming a bike-friendly city.

After removing a downtown Providence highway segment, Rhode Island officials are figuring out how to redevelop 20 acres of prime city land. One outcome that local advocates are pushing for is a redesign of South Main Street with a two-way protected bike lane, reports James Kennedy at Transport Providence.