city planning

Y Combinator To Study “Building New, Better Cities,” But Is It Shortsighted?

According to a recent blog post from Y Combinator, an early stage technology startup incubator, the organization wants to “study building new, better cities.” At first blush, this desire to improve something really basic — our daily living habitat — as opposed to the fairly conventional challenges that many tech startups take on, which maybe …

Y Combinator To Study “Building New, Better Cities,” But Is It Shortsighted? Read More »

Google’s “Popular Times” A Potential Game Changer

When it comes to city planning, research is the key – the key to fluid transportation, efficient land usage, and reasonable allocation of resources. Tim Barton recently made some poignant observations regarding Google’s “Popular Times” feature and how the data gathered by the media juggernaut could be distributed to and utilized by urban planners to better …

Google’s “Popular Times” A Potential Game Changer Read More »

Minneapolis top bicycle city.

Bikeability Of 36 Cities — Walk Score Rates Every Address In Each City

I get lost in a time warp playing with this bike score map. What a pleasant diversion and a bit of fun after being outside on my bike for hours this evening. The map is interesting and useful. Especially diverse and informative are the comments at the side of the scoring of a city. Those …

Bikeability Of 36 Cities — Walk Score Rates Every Address In Each City Read More »

Southern California Investing in Bike Paths!

Southern California is known for its beautiful weather and, ironically, for its auto-centric development patterns. Why not take advantage of that beautiful weather more, some have argued. And they are actually being listened to, finally,.. in Long Beach at least. Long Beach is now constructing a network of separate bike paths. The city currently doesn’t …

Southern California Investing in Bike Paths! Read More »

Peak Oil & Sustainable Development Expert Talks about the Situation Today In-Depth [VIDEOS]

James Kunstler, a renowned writer and a long-time expert on city planning, suburbia, sustainable development (in particular, New Urbanism), and peak oil, goes into depth on the worldwide peak oil crisis we are starting to face. His most well-known books are “The Geography of Nowhere (1994), a history of American suburbia and urban development, and the …

Peak Oil & Sustainable Development Expert Talks about the Situation Today In-Depth [VIDEOS] Read More »

How Perugia, Italy Said Goodbye to Traffic, Hello to Improved Quality of Life

If you want to see an idyllic, small Italian city, Perugia may be the place for you. It fits all the characteristics of those beautiful Italian towns from the movies. However, it hasn’t forever. It took visionaries with a green spirit to turn the city around. National Geographic recently covered the transformation of this town …

How Perugia, Italy Said Goodbye to Traffic, Hello to Improved Quality of Life Read More »

World-Leading Sustainable Community in Germany: Vauban District

The Vauban district is a green, planned community in the city of Freiburg in southern Germany. Construction of this community began in the mid-1990s and opened in 2000. By 2001, it had 2,000 inhabitants living in a greener, more sustainable way. Now, the Vauban district is said to have 5,000 inhabitants and 600 jobs. A …

World-Leading Sustainable Community in Germany: Vauban District Read More »

Happiest City in U.S.? (No Cars on Main Street, No Fast Food, No Smoking, Bike Valet)

Oprah recently featured San Luis Obispo, “America’s Happiest Town” (if the video above doesn’t work for you, that’s the link to it). Jenny McCarthy actually does the leg work for this video story. Highlighted features of the city are that it shut down its main street 40 years ago — “experts say if your town …

Happiest City in U.S.? (No Cars on Main Street, No Fast Food, No Smoking, Bike Valet) Read More »

Livable Streets are without Car Traffic: Where Did the U.S. Go Wrong?

In 1981, scholar Donald Appleyard published the book “Livable Streets” (link is to the 2nd edition soon to be published) based on his research into how people experience streets with different traffic volumes. Streetfilms recently covered portions of his research findings in the video above and in their post Revisiting Donald Appleyard’s Livable Streets. As …

Livable Streets are without Car Traffic: Where Did the U.S. Go Wrong? Read More »

European Cities Limiting the Car, Improving Quality of Life

Europe, as we know, has a much different urban fabric — because most of its cities were developed long before cars arrived. They have narrower streets, are more walkable, more bike-friendly, and more pleasant. Nonetheless, Europe went the same route as the U.S. in recent years with the boom of the automobile and started trying …

European Cities Limiting the Car, Improving Quality of Life Read More »

New Study Looks at Hidden Environmental Costs of Parking

The price of free parking keeps going up. One cost is painful urban congestion, which is made worse bydrastically under-priced street parking. Another is a relative cost to the environment, which occurs when the near-certain prospect of free (or cheap) parking entices people into their cars and away from alternative forms of transportation. Recently a …

New Study Looks at Hidden Environmental Costs of Parking Read More »

EcoLocalizer Link Drop

New Transit Projects for 2011 A comprehensive list of transit projects scheduled to start construction or open in 2011. “Streetcar lines dominate the nation’s new transit construction landscape, but this year only light and commuter rail lines will open for service.” NYC Tries ‘Rapid’ Buses in Bid to Cut Transit Costs The city’s much-maligned bus …

EcoLocalizer Link Drop Read More »

Green Makeover of Brooklyn-Queens Expressway

The proposals are in after Monday’s final public meeting to decide the future of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway trench which severs the Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, and Columbia Street Waterfront neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Residents spoke up and prioritized their wishes for a less disruptive BQE including reduced noise and pollution, increased neighborhood connectivity and bike / pedestrian …

Green Makeover of Brooklyn-Queens Expressway Read More »