Streetsblog Network

In the 1960s sci-fi vision of the future, people moved around in flying cars, or better yet, got "beamed" from one place to another instantaneously. But the futurists of that generation got it wrong. The most influential technological breakthroughs are happening in the field of communications, not transportation.

The city of Seattle is planning to use eminent domain to seize a privately owned parking lot near its waterfront. The plan is to convert it into ... a city-run parking lot.

There's a fixed mindset in many corners of the country, perhaps especially in the Midwest, which holds that highway building is an unquestioned economic good.

This, my friends, is a great example of how myopic reasoning by state departments of transportation can lead to horrible results at the community level.

As soon as some consensus emerges about a demographic trend pointing to positive signs for cities, you can count on leading suburban crusader Joel Kotkin to say the experts have it wrong. Kotkin would like you to believe that he's the one true voice in demographic trends, and in his view, it's always the suburbs that come out on top.

The project to replace and expand the I-5 bridge between Oregon and Washington, a.k.a. the "Columbia River Crossing," has been watched by transportation experts around the country as a case study in the dynamics of a highway boondoggle. Earlier this year, when state lawmakers in Washington State refused to fund their portion of the project, observers proclaimed the project dead.

Rail riders and advocates in Indiana won a big one this week, securing the additional state funding needed to keep Amtrak's Hoosier State line operating four days a week between Indianapolis and Chicago. It was the last, and most hotly contested, of the 19 agreements Amtrak was required to negotiate with 15 states in order to maintain service on its "state-supported" routes.

America can be a hostile place for people who don't drive, and the difficulty is obviously compounded for people who can't drive because of physical limitations. Even for someone in peak physical condition, crossing suburban arterial roads, waiting for infrequent buses, and traversing enormous parking lots can be unpleasant at best and dangerous at worst.

One of the most exciting American cities for livable streets right now is Memphis, Tennessee, whose progressive mayor, A.C. Wharton, has championed the expansion of the bike network and helped the city secure the sought-after guidance of national bike infrastructure experts with the Green Lane Project.