Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about Around the Block

Multi-family housing in the Twin Cities generates far fewer car trips per household than single-family homes. Photo: AlexiusHoratius/Wikimedia Commons

A Recipe for Cutting Traffic: Build More Apartments, Fewer Single-Family Homes

By Angie Schmitt | Jun 27, 2017 | No Comments

In the Twin Cities, people living in multi-family housing - apartments, condos, or any kind of dwelling that shares walls with its neighbors - travel by car 25 percent less than people who live in single-family homes. And they get around by walking, biking, and transit much, much more.

Playing road hockey in Vancouver. Photo: Pete via Flickr

You Can’t Have Family-Friendly Cities Without Kid-Friendly Streets

By Angie Schmitt | Jun 26, 2017 | No Comments

A lot of cities assume that all parents who can move to the suburbs will do so. But it doesn't have to be that way.

Portland's plan would give high ridership bus routes dedicated lanes, signal priority at intersections, and other features that will speed service. Photo: City of Portland

Portland Has a Plan to Do for Buses What It Did for Cycling

By Angie Schmitt | Jun 23, 2017 | No Comments

Portland officials are developing a plan for a network of "Enhanced Transit Corridors," carving out space in the street for buses so vehicles with 30 passengers aren't stuck in a quagmire of vehicles carrying just one.

On his blog Broken Sidewalk, Branden Klayko pushed Louisville to become a more walkable city.

A Tribute to Branden Klayko, Who Loved Louisville and Wanted His City to Be Its Best

By Angie Schmitt | Jun 20, 2017 | No Comments

We want to take a moment to honor the life of Branden Klayko, an architect and Louisville native who founded the local blog Broken Sidewalk, which was part of the Streetsblog Network for years.

This man is making streets more dangerous, according to the Seattle Times. Photo: Tobi Gaulke/Flickr

Blaming People for Wearing Black Wins the Prize for Anti-Pedestrian Idiocy

By Stephen Miller | May 31, 2017 | No Comments

It takes a special kind of callousness to say that pedestrians are making city streets dangerous by wearing black. And yet, that's exactly what the Seattle Times did this weekend.

Indianapolis spent $6.35 million on the Broad Ripple parking garage, and it's mostly empty. Photo: Midwest Constructors LLC

This Nearly-Empty Indianapolis Parking Garage Is an Epic Waste of Public Money

By Stephen Miller | May 30, 2017 | No Comments

Subsidized parking garages frequently turn into money-losing concrete bunkers on land better suited for something more productive than car storage. The Broad Ripple parking garage in Indianapolis, a pet project of former mayor Greg Ballard, is a spectacular example.

Nashville's busiest bus routes are in line for more frequent service and transit-only lanes under the city's new action plan. Photo: Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County

Nashville Mayor Megan Barry Just Unveiled Her Blueprint to Fast-Track People-Friendly Streets

By Stephen Miller | May 25, 2017 | No Comments

Nashville is known as the home of the country music industry -- and a fast-growing region of car-centric sprawl. But local leaders realize they can't accommodate more growth with an outdated, cars-first approach, so Mayor Megan Barry released an action plan yesterday that lays out an ambitious agenda to improve conditions for walking, bicycling, and transit.

Transit does not exist to make gridlock disappear for drivers. Image: Sound Transit

Don’t Judge Transit By the Gridlock on Nearby Roads

By Stephen Miller | May 18, 2017 | No Comments

Transit can be a success without making car trips faster.

Currently, streetcars get bogged down down in private car traffic on King Street, Toronto's busiest surface transit route. A new plan would divert private vehicles out of the path of transit. Photo: booledozer/Flickr

Toronto Has a Plan to Clear the Way for Streetcars Stuck in Traffic

By Stephen Miller | May 15, 2017 | No Comments

Toronto's busiest surface transit route could get a big upgrade as part of a year-long pilot project -- if it clears the Toronto City Council this summer, where suburban interests have a history of rejecting transit initiatives.

A Memphis Area Transit Authority bus in downtown Memphis. gg1electrice60/Flickr

Can Memphis Turn Around Its Struggling Bus System?

By Stephen Miller | May 5, 2017 | No Comments

The current level of transit service in Memphis is bleak. So a week ago, 11 Shelby County public defenders took part in Bus Rider's Day, which Commercial Appeal columnist David Waters called "an exercise in empathy and, as it turned out, endurance" to understand the transportation challenges facing their clients.

Milwaukee Street Safety Advocates Make Their Case With Reports for Each Council District

By Stephen Miller | May 4, 2017 | No Comments

One of the most effective ways to get elected officials to pay attention to traffic safety is to spell out the dangers in their own districts. A new effort from a coalition in Milwaukee does just that, crafting reports for each of the city's 15 aldermanic districts on the eve of the Wisconsin Bike Summit.

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