Sarah Goodyear shares insight into a book by Carlton Reid titled "Roads Were Not Built for Cars," which details the secret history of the bicyclists that helped launch the fledgling automobile industry in the late 19th century.
Sarah Goodyear writes for CityLab:
"The book, which is engaging and anything but dry, tells a story that has been mostly lost to time and politics: how cycling pioneers in the late 19th century, many from the powerful ruling classes, lobbied successfully for the improvement of the road networks in the United States and Europe, and how many of those same leading cyclists then went on to become leaders in the fledgling automobile industry. In so doing, they steered the future of transportation away from rails and onto roads."
The article goes on to provide a lengthy interview between Goodyear and Reid. Here Reid discusses the ethos of personal freedom shared by bicyclists and the early motorists in the late 19th century: "For motoring to take off, you had to have a bunch of people who were happy to be off in the sticks mending stuff. Because the first cars weren’t terribly reliable. Who were the bunch of people who were comfortable being off in the sticks mending stuff? The bicyclists."
FULL STORY: The Secret History of Cars Begins With Bicycles
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
Federal Rule Raises Cost for Oil and Gas Extraction on Public Lands
An update to federal regulations raises minimum bonding to limit orphaned wells and ensure cleanup costs are covered — but it still may not be enough to mitigate the damages caused by oil and gas drilling.
Opinion: Criminalizing Homelessness Is ‘Expensive and Shortsighted’
Policies that punish and fine unhoused people for sheltering outdoors, even when other shelter is not available, are the most visible but least efficient ways to reduce homelessness.
Texas Law Could Limit Local Control Over Zoning
If upheld, a Texas law would likely prevent cities from enacting zoning reform that would increase density or eliminate single-family-only zoning.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
City of Laramie, Wyoming
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.