Day: November 6, 2009

City planners have been on the hook for some of the last century's greatest metropolitan mishaps: urban freeways and "slum clearance," arbitrary minimum parking requirements, and land use laws that have left little room for the mingling of uses. Understandably, today's planners are a bit humbled. But when planning directors from some of North America's most progressive cities spoke at City Hall this week about the political challenges that face urban planners, several of them said the field needs to move beyond worrying about past mistakes.

Over the past two days at the Congress for the New Urbanism Project for Transportation Reform conference, attendees have called for transportation reform at local, regional, and national levels. In a panel debate about the future of transportation funding and the role of regional planning through MPOs, several speakers argued that the foundation of transportation and development funding had to be systematically overhauled.

With the U.S. unemployment rate hitting 10.2 percent today, its highest level in 26 years, a palpable shift is occurring on Capitol Hill.

Today on the Streetsblog Network, a story about some kids in Los Angeles who did their research and came up with several good ideas about improving conditions for bicycle commuters. Then they ran up against the reality that the public forums on the city's bike plan weren't so public. But they didn't let that stop them.

Muni Station Agent Arrested for Allegedly Punching Teen Girl (SF Examiner) BART Driver Accused of Lewd Act on Train (NBC Bay Area) Santa Clara County to Pay $800,000 to Father of Cyclist Killed by Asleep-at-the-Wheel Cop (SFGate) NY Times Runs Nevius-Style Hit Piece on Bay Area Cyclists (NYT, Bay Area Blog) San Mateo County Experimenting … Continued