The patterns of urban development over the past few decades have pushed more and more people into cars by necessity. But as design priorities change, so are people's walking and driving habits.
This piece from Sierra looks at how urban form is ushering changes in the way people move about cities, and other influences for getting people out of their cars.
"All that extra driving--people using a gallon of gas to get a gallon of milk--has turned us into high-octane petro-vores. Between 1960 and '70, the U.S. population grew by 13 percent while gasoline demand rose by 54 percent; the next decade, with the same population growth, gas demand increased by 17 percent.
The shift to sprawling development patterns and the turning away from once-common practices like walking to school are often defended as a matter of "choice"--one, of course, fueled by decades of government laws and incentives. The irony is that many communities today have no choice when it comes to transportation: We have created a vehicular monoculture. But there are signs that this is changing. First, we seem to be maxing out on just how much driving we're willing to do."
Read the full story: Living Large Driving Less
Bike use in London grew by 43% since 2019, but car use remains roughly the same
The city's efforts to reduce car use have stalled despite ambitious programs like congestion pricing and low-traffic neighborhoods.
This Florida town gives residents a free golf cart with each new home
Babcock Ranch discourages driving with ample walking and rolling infrastructure and dense development that offers many of the services residents need within a short walk or ride.
In Defense of Car-light Planning
By framing car-free as the only way forward, we have made the perfect the enemy of the good. It’s time we emphasize — and promote — small progress.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Seattle passes record-breaking transit services expansion
Proposition 1 will double the city’s transit tax to add 95,000 more bus trips and preserve 180,000 bus trips annually.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority