Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about Streetsblog Network

What can a Google Maps visual teach us about the cities we live in? Kyle Shelton at Network blog The Urban Edge has been exploring the latest update of Google Maps, which now highlights clusters of businesses, or “areas of interest,” in orange. Shelton says the highlighted zones can reveal unexpected pockets of commercial activity: The surprising diversity of the areas — in character, […]

The way we move around is shaped by many factors — the physical environment, culture, technology, and economic status, to name a few. A new report from the engineering firm Arup, “Cities Alive: Towards a Walking World,” looks at how motorized cities can become walkable again. Brandon Donnelly at Network blog Architect This City lifted this image from the […]

More cities should copy this idea for their park-and-ride transit stations: At DC Metro’s King Street station in Old Town Alexandria, plans are underway to turn parking spots into a pedestrian plaza. This goes against the grain of typical transit agency practice. Despite the fact that park-and-rides are an inefficient use of scarce land, a recent survey by researchers […]

What a sad state of affairs for transit in the nation’s capital. As WMATA, the agency that runs the DC Metro, temporarily disrupts service to take care of necessary system repairs, it’s also considering a permanent end to late-night service. That is entirely unacceptable, especially in a city where so many people work outside the typical 9-to-5 shift, says Kristen […]

A new study out of Toronto confirms what cyclists in many U.S. cities have found out the hard way: Streetcar tracks can be a serious safety hazard. The study comes from Canadian public health researcher Kay Teschke, who specializes in bike issues. Michael Andersen at BikePortland reports: Among bike-related injuries in Toronto that resulted in emergency-room trips, the study […]

The federal government hands states about $40 billion a year for transportation, money they can basically spend however they want. The result in many places is a lot of expensive, traffic-inducing highways that get clogged with cars soon after they’re finished. Can measuring the effect of all this spending lead to better decisions? U.S. DOT is developing a metric to assess how […]