Recent Streetsblog SF posts about Cities, Counties, and Countries

News from NY: What We Can Learn from Times Square’s Public Spaces

By Matthew Roth | Oct 28, 2009 | No Comments

This used to be the scene of gridlocked traffic. A pedestrian plaza was carved out the the old roadbed of Broadway in NYC’s Times Square. Photo: berk2804 When Tim Tompkins took over as President of the Times Square Alliance, one of New York City’s largest Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), the primary concerns were the security […]

Philly Mayor Tells Senate: Climate Bill Can Help Make Cities Greener

By Elana Schor | Oct 28, 2009 | 2 Comments

As the Senate opened its second round of climate change hearings today, Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter delivered the urban case for climate legislation, outlining an array of infrastructure improvements and green reforms that would be made possible by federal action to reduce carbon emissions. A sample image of Philadelphia’s proposed "green corridors." (Image: Lomo Civic […]

Advice for Policymakers: Time to Check Your Blind Spots

By Ryan Avent | Oct 27, 2009 | No Comments

Last week, I left my Washington home, walked to the nearby Metro station, rode a train downtown, walked to the National Press Club, and settled in to hear Steven Rattner, former head of the Obama administration’s auto task force, declare that "no one has yet invented a substitute for the automobile." Steven Rattner (Photo: WSJ) […]

What We Don’t See: China Miéville’s ‘The City & The City’

By Chris Carlsson | Oct 27, 2009 | 2 Comments

Invisible people are all around us! Once you start thinking about it, what we don’t see is a much bigger category than what we do see. But what we don’t see ON PURPOSE is a really interesting category. When you add to the mix mobility, walking or riding or driving through city streets, not seeing […]

CA Poised to Reform Auto-Centric Level of Service Environmental Rules

By Matthew Roth | Oct 26, 2009 | 7 Comments

California administrative rulemakers recently moved a step closer to reforming the section of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) that has compelled cities to focus undue attention on the age-old Automobile Level of Service (LOS) threshold for impacts of new projects and has led to the construction of excess off-street parking. Photo: pbo31 The state’s […]

Bicyclist Killed in Redwood City Was a Fixture of Peninsula Bike Paths

By Michael Rhodes | Oct 23, 2009 | 13 Comments

Mary Yonkers, right, with a bike trail friend. Photo courtesy Barry Grossman. Mary Yonkers, 58, of San Mateo, was killed by a truck driver while riding her bicycle to work on Shoreway Road in Redwood City last week. That stale description of her death belies the incredible impact she had on a countless number of […]

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