Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Urban Design

Our Cities Can’t Afford So Many Rooftop Spas

By Tanya Snyder | Mar 31, 2014 | 8 Comments

First, let me be clear: Tomorrow is April Fools, not today. This is real. There are luxury apartment buildings in Washington, DC, trying to lure renters with communal puppies. That sounds like the makings of a tiny tombstone engraved with “Tragedy of the Commons,” if you ask me. Who’s going to take responsibility for a […]

Talking Headways Podcast: Knight Rider Rides Again

By Tanya Snyder | Mar 27, 2014 | No Comments

It was a dark and stormy day in San Francisco and Jeff Wood stayed dry in Woonerf studios, recording the Talking Headways podcast with co-host Tanya Snyder, who was bitter that days after the spring equinox, Washington, DC, was getting hit with another snowstorm. But more importantly — what does the future hold after a […]

Talking Headways Podcast: From the Free Market to the Flea Market

By Tanya Snyder | Mar 18, 2014 | No Comments

You think the conflict between Uber and regular taxi drivers — and cities like Seattle — is bad? Check out how new taxi apps in China are upending the transportation system and central economic planning. Meanwhile, in Houston, a flea market has brought revitalization without gentrification to a depressed area near the airport, and now […]

Friday Afternoon Cartoon: T-Rex Nails It on Auto-Centric Urban Design

By Tanya Snyder | Mar 7, 2014 | 24 Comments

Thank you, Ryan North of Dinosaur Comics, for this righteous and oddly poignant look at the dangers — and drudgery — caused by auto-centric urban design. Bravo, sir. You should get an honorary urban planning degree for this.

Talking Headways Podcast: How Does This Podcast Make You Feel?

By Tanya Snyder | Feb 12, 2014 | 7 Comments

This week, Jeff Wood and I get indignant about Miami-Dade County’s misuse of transit funds for roads, and we speculate about why — with the current success of pedestrian projects like Times Square — old-style pedestrian malls are still going belly-up. And then we peek behind the curtain at an exciting new frontier for urban […]

TED Talk: OKC Mayor Mick Cornett on Designing a City for Fitness

By Tanya Snyder | Jan 6, 2014 | 1 Comment

I got to know Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett last year, when I interviewed him at the annual meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors. We talked about his realization that he and his constituents (generally speaking) were obese, and how he stood in front of the elephants at the zoo on New Year’s […]

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