Infrastructure

Despite widespread budget woes and austerity programs, European cities are pushing forward with plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by retrofitting existing transit systems in a "slow-motion revolution" in electric transport, reports Erica Gies.

July 8, 2013 - The New York Times

Wash. state senate Republicans dealt a crushing blow to governors of both Wash. and Ore. by killing a 10.5-cent gas tax bill needed to tap $850 million in federal funds to finance rebuilding of two, obsolete I-5 spans over the Columbia River.

July 8, 2013 - The Columbian

Taichung, Taiwan (pop 2.7 million) has beaten out six other finalists to claim the Intelligent Community Forum’s (ICF) designation as "intelligent community of the year". Robert Bell and Sylvie Albert describe what makes the city an intelligent icon.

July 5, 2013 - The Global Urbanist

As news reports indicate, the recent BART strike made a mess out of the Bay Area's morning and evening commutes. For planning think tank SPUR, it has helped to illustrate significant gaps in the region's transportation infrastructure.

July 5, 2013 - SPUR Blog

Since we covered the many problems encountered by users of New York's Citi Bike, we though it only fair to share news of a large-scale bike share system that recently launched with far fewer problems (at least according to one reporter).

July 5, 2013 - Grist

Have you heard of stroading? While we don't recommend you try this at home, it behooves us to tell you about the ingenious meme that Charles Marohn and his friends have devised to point out America's over-engineered urban streets.

July 4, 2013 - Strong Towns Blog

The nation has a huge quantity of postwar housing that can be made more walkable and appealing to new generations of residents. Robert Steuteville examines what makes them good candidates and notes some examples of successful retrofits.

July 3, 2013 - Better! Cities & Towns

Shannon Mattern examines how media scholars and environmental artists are working to reveal the material and immaterial infrastructures that shape our lives, from the Interstate to the Internet.

July 3, 2013 - Places Journal

Across America's Midwest, resident revolts have challenged the traditional DOT orthodoxy of continuous highway construction. The most recent battleground is St. Louis, where a growing movement is protesting a highway project first conceived in 1957.

July 1, 2013 - DC.Streetsblog

Can we combine our love affair with cars and single-family homes with sustainable growth? Mark Delucchi and Kenneth S. Kurani think so.

June 30, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has certainly fallen short with some of his ambitious agenda items (including his attempt to take over the city's school district). But when it comes to transportation, the mayor has had a dramatic, and lasting, effect.

June 30, 2013 - Governing

In a challenge to the wishes of the state DOT, a group of citizens has successfully campaigned for the addition of an alternative to restore the downtown street grid in place of a high-speed boulevard in Oklahoma City.

June 29, 2013 - DC Streetsblog

Why can't California make it easier for its millions of visitors, and residents, to travel from airports to urban centers via direct rail routes? The state is investing billions in its rail and air infrastructure, but can't seem to connect the two.

June 28, 2013 - Zocalo Public Square

Over the next decade, $1 billion will be spent to repair the state's deteriorating roads. Like many states unwilling to raise gas taxes, most will come from transfers from the general fund, though $41.4 million per year will be from car sales taxes.

June 28, 2013 - South Carolina's $1 billion Road Bill Signed By Gov. Haley

It was supposed to launch last year. Then it was going to start this spring. Now, Bike Nation, the supposed operator of L.A.'s citywide bike-share system, is saying the first of its 4,000 bikes won't appear on city streets until "sometime" next year.

June 28, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

Carl Skelton argues that the public needs new tools of citizenship to participate fully in the digital cities of the near future.

June 28, 2013 - Places Journal

For years, public leaders have touted low interest rates as a fantastic opportunity to borrow money to modernize America's aging infrastructure. That opportunity looks to be ending, as rising interest rates batter the municipal bond market.

June 28, 2013 - The New York Times

A multifaceted £100 billion infrastructure modernization plan for the UK was announced this week by Treasury Minister Danny Alexander. The opposition Labour party is objecting to the timeline for the investments, which aren't due to start until 2015.

June 27, 2013 - BBC News

Homeownership is slipping out of reach for many Americans, caused largely by the lack of affordable housing inventory. There is a solution to the inventory shortage that many buyers, advocates and policymakers are overlooking: Manufactured Housing.

June 27, 2013 - Rooflines

The movement to dismantle the twin viaducts that hover over Vancouver's downtown reaches a crucial milestone today, as the City Council votes to fund the study of how to transform "the last, large, under-utilized area close to the city’s core."

June 26, 2013 - The Globe and Mail