Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Urban Planning

A Suggestion for Today’s ‘Beer Summit’

By Elana Schor | Jul 30, 2009 | No Comments

It’s become the pint heard ’round the world, thanks to the fascinated mainstream media — and in a few hours, President Obama will finally sit down for a beer with Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Sgt. James Crowley, the Cambridge police officer who arrested Gates in his own home two weeks ago. Gates […]

Meridian, Mississippi: What Trains Can Do for a City

By Sarah Goodyear | Jun 3, 2009 | 4 Comments

When President Obama announced his plan for a national high-speed rail network earlier this year, one of the people invited to attend was the Republican mayor of a city you’ve most likely never heard of — Meridian, Mississippi. And one of the rail routes, running from Atlanta to New Orleans, went right through Meridian. The […]

Use the Stimulus Bill to Complete Our Nation’s Streets

By Sarah Goodyear | Feb 19, 2009 | No Comments

One of the most encouraging moments in last week’s PBS NOW documentary about Charlotte, NC came when Mayor Pat McCrory pointed out the importance of "complete streets" to the success of the city’s new light rail system. "Transit alone doesn’t transform neighborhoods," said McCrory. "The key is how you connect those neighborhoods to the train […]

The Case for Active Transportation, by the Numbers

By Sarah Goodyear | Oct 24, 2008 | 3 Comments

Thanks to commenter Stephen for prodding us to post on the new report from the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, "Active Transportation for America" (download the PDF here). What makes the report notable are the numbers it contains. It’s jam-packed with quantifiable benefits that would result from increased investment in infrastructure that encourages and supports pedestrians and cyclists. […]

Jan Gehl Reflects on San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf

By Matthew Roth | Oct 9, 2008 | 3 Comments

"When I was a visiting professor at Berkeley in the 1980s, I used to come to Fisherman’s Wharf and walk around," Danish urban designer Jan Gehl said Wednesday night, to more than 100 San Franciscans at the Pier 39 Theater near Fisherman’s Wharf. "Now it’s like deja vu; it’s exactly like I remember it 25 […]

Jan Gehl Says San Francisco Must be Sweet to Pedestrians and Cyclists

By Matthew Roth | Oct 8, 2008 | 8 Comments

It’s a good day in a city’s urbanist evolution when Jan Gehl comes to town, and now San Francisco can add itself to the growing list of cities around the world that have embraced his people-first approach to urban design and planning. Hoping to keep pace with the progress in New York City over the […]

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