Tim Halbur

While some Americans find them confusing, traffic roundabouts are good for the environment and cut down on time spent in traffic, say transportation planners.

A private bus company with an internet-based reservation system is succeeding wildly, perhaps paving the way for successful bus transit (and away from rail).

When asked to describe their town at a charrette, the residents of Canon chose words like "rundown", "courageous" and "eccentric". University of Georgia students and professors worked with locals to create a vision for the town.

In Vancouver, where rents and housing prices are moving beyond the reach of ordinary citizens, the search for proven ways to provide modest market housing is on.

The capper to the San Pablo Avenue Streetscape Project is to be a public art project that would line the boulevard. But the art commission in charge has rejected the artists' plans as "poorly done" and wants them to come back with a new concept.