Sarah Goodyear examines the connection between the way we design our streets and the reluctance of parents to let their children play outdoors.
"More than a quarter of the 1,000 United Kingdom parents polled in a recent survey [commissioned by UK-based Playday] -- 28 percent -- said they feared letting their kids play outside because of 'intolerant attitudes' displayed by their neighbors," reports Goodyear.
"But fear of traffic was parents' top reason for keeping their kids in the house, with 53 percent naming it as an issue," she continues. "'Stranger danger,' or fear of abduction, was another concern. All these things are connected – the prevalence of cars, the distrust of strangers, the intolerance of normal childish behavior. And the Playday survey results gave some insight into the psychological vicious circle that keeps kids indoors in many neighborhoods around the world."
Read the full story: No Kids Allowed: How Our Street Design Is Killing Play
Students Give Up Wheels for Their Own Two Feet
This piece from the New York Times looks at a program in Italy the encourages children to walk to school.
The number of kids walking to school dropped from over 50% to 11% since the 1960s
Unsafe pedestrian infrastructure makes walking to school dangerous or impossible for a growing number of American students.
Children in 55 countries are redesigning their cities in Minecraft
A U.N.-backed program lets students and community members reimagine sites in their neighborhoods in the game — and translate them into real-life buildings.
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.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Move over, LA: St. Louis gears up for Olympics, invests millions in downtown redevelopment
The Missouri city will host the 2028 Olympic soccer group stage and knockout matches.
Mass. votes against statewide minimum lot size for single-family homes
Over 2 million residents voted on Question 7; it was decided by just over 30,000 votes.
Maryland’s $15 billion bridge project gains key approval
The Maryland Transit Authority said the project will create over 60,000 jobs and add $23 billion to the local economy.
‘No clear next steps’ for Chicago's permanent festival grounds
Eleventh Ward Ald. Nicole Lee has suggested Soldier Field as a possible location for the permanent event space.
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