Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about Austin

A meme-worthy image from the Vision Zero plan.

Does Chicago’s Vision Zero Plan Have Enough Teeth to Achieve Its Ambitious Goals?

By John Greenfield | Jul 27, 2017 | 3 Comments

Reducing the number of serious and fatal crashes in the areas that are most impacted by traffic violence, without unfairly targeting neighborhoods of color, is going to require extensive community input and buy-in.

The 300 block of North Latrobe. Image: John Greenfield

Driver Charged in the May 17 Vehicular Homicide of Naisha Weems, 28, in Austin

By John Greenfield | Jun 28, 2017 | 3 Comments

Five days earlier later there had been a nearly identical tragedy in Morgan Park.

Robert Calvin rides in Chicago's Austin neighborhood. During a roughly nine-month period last year police wrote 321 bike citations in Austin but only 30 in majority-white Lakeview. Photo: John Greenfield

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The CPD’s “Biking While Black” Enforcement Practices Have Got to Stop

By John Greenfield | Mar 21, 2017 | 27 Comments

A Chicago Tribune investigation indicates that police are much more likely to ticket people in African-American communities for bike infractions than they are to issue citations to lawbreaking cyclists in mostly white areas. This isn't just illegal and unjust. It also discourages cycling in black neighborhoods.

Walkable retail development would be easier to build under Austin's draft zoning revisions. Photo: Doorsteps

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Austin May Cut Parking Requirements By Nearly 50 Percent

By Angie Schmitt | Mar 1, 2017 | No Comments

Austin is in the process of overhauling its zoning code -- an initiative called CodeNext -- and one of the most promising aspects is a major reduction in parking requirements. If the current draft holds up, the effects on walkability, housing affordability, and water quality could be impressive.

The crash site from the driver's perspective. Image: Goggle Street View

Hit-and-Run Driver Killed Woman Who Had Collapsed in Austin Crosswalk

By John Greenfield | Jan 4, 2017 | No Comments

The case of a 50-year-old woman who collapsed while crossing the street in Austin, and was fatally struck by a driver who fled the scene, appears to be the first pedestrian fatality of 2017.

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How Unrepresentative Is Your Regional Planning Agency?

By Angie Schmitt | Sep 12, 2016 | No Comments

Do the people who make transportation funding decisions in your region represent the people who actually live in your region? After sitting through dozens of meetings presided over by a legion of white men, Texas transportation reformer Jay Crossley wanted to find out. He recently released the first phase of a report on the Austin region’s Capital […]

West Garfield and Austin Got Divvy Bikes Last Week. Will Anyone Use Them?

By John Greenfield | Jun 20, 2016 | 6 Comments

[Last November the Chicago Reader launched a weekly transportation column written by Streetsblog Chicago editor John Greenfield. This partnership allows Streetsblog to extend the reach of our livable streets advocacy. We syndicate a portion of the column on the day it comes out online; you can read the remainder on the Reader’s website or in […]

Why Didn’t More Locals Show Up for the West-Side Bikeway Hearings?

By John Greenfield | Mar 28, 2016 | 14 Comments

[The Chicago Reader recently launched a new weekly transportation column written by Streetsblog Chicago editor John Greenfield. This partnership will allow Streetsblog to extend the reach of our livable streets advocacy. We’ll be syndicating a portion of the column on the day it comes out online; you can read the remainder on the Reader’s website […]

Police: Teen Intentionally Struck 3 Relatives With a Car, Killing His Father

By John Greenfield | Feb 17, 2016 | No Comments

A 39-year-old man is dead after his teenage son intentionally struck him and two other relatives with a car in Austin, according to police. On Saturday at around 11:15 p.m., a domestic dispute took place outside in the 5400 block of West Kamerling, according to the police. After the fight, a 19-year-old man intentionally struck […]

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Highway Boondoggles: Texas State Highway 45 Southwest

By Jeff Inglis | Jan 21, 2016 | No Comments

In a new report, Highway Boondoggles 2 (the original came out in 2014), U.S. PIRG and the Frontier Group teamed up to profile the most wasteful highway projects that state DOTs are building. Streetsblog will be serializing the case studies in the report. Today, we focus on a road project that risks contaminating the water supply in and around Austin, […]

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Brutal Jaywalking Arrest in Austin Caught on Video

By Angie Schmitt | Nov 9, 2015 | No Comments

Austin police were captured on video beating a group of “jaywalkers” into submission late last Wednesday in an incident that reeks of racial profiling. The arrest was recorded and shared on Facebook by Rolando Ramiro. He told the website Photography is Not a Crime that he and a group of friends were trying to cross a street that had been barricaded […]

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