Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about Streetsblog Network

A change to D.C.’s zoning code will allow homeowners to build and rent out a basement apartment, or an apartment over the garage, without the long, expensive hassle of obtaining special permission. Advocates in many high-rent cities, like Austin, have fought for this kind of legislation. It not only helps alleviate the housing crunch, it also creates better […]

Boston’s 4.7-mile Green Line extension is supposed to bring light rail service to some of the nation’s most densely populated neighborhoods, but skyrocketing construction costs have threatened to sink the project. After the price tag ballooned to $3 billion last year, about a 50 percent increase, the project was in danger of being cancelled altogether. Yesterday, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation […]

It’s been almost six months since Paris held its big car-free day, a jubilant event that temporarily cleared the air of poisonous diesel emissions and imparted a sense of how great streets could be without the constant roar of motor vehicles. Now Mayor Anne Hidalgo is moving to make “open streets” a monthly event. Richard Layman at Rebuilding Place in the […]

Here’s an interesting way to evaluate how well a street network works for biking. Stephen Tu and Alex Rixey are mapping streets in Montgomery County, Maryland, based on how comfortable riders of different skill levels find them. Tu and Rixey based their mapping technique on the famous Portland survey that found “strong and fearless” riders willing […]

Yesterday was national Bike to School Day, an event that shows kids what it’s like to power their own way to school. The fact that we have a special day to promote what used to be part of the daily routine for many children also speaks to the way biking and walking have been marginalized on American streets. Two generations ago, in 1969, almost half […]

Everyone’s paying tribute to Jane Jacobs today, on what would be the pioneering urbanist’s 100th birthday. Jacobs’ classic critique of mid-century American urban planning dogma, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, is probably the most influential book ever written about planning. But her legacy is also contested, and her ideas still go unheeded in most cities. Was […]