Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Suburbia

A Solution for Suburbs: Bypass the Roads

By Mathew Katz | | 17 Comments
A map of a neighborhood in Tigard, Oregon. Some of the proposed new trails are marked in blue. The demand for walkable neighborhoods is up, but in order to fill that demand, we’re going to have to transform our suburbs. How that might be accomplished was one of the most vexing issues discussed at last […]

The Economic Argument for Walkability

By Mathew Katz | | 3 Comments
Chris Leinberger discusses strategies to develop walkable urban spaces in the United States. Photo: Mathew Katz If the American Dream of the Baby Boomers was all about being able to have a car and a house in suburbia, the new American Dream is having the choice between living in drivable suburban places and walkable urban […]

New Video Series Tells the Story of Sprawl

By Brad Aaron | | 1 Comment
As livable streets advocates work to make headway in breaking the cycle of American auto dependence, the folks at Planetizen have put together a video narrative that explains how we got here. "The Story of Sprawl," a double DVD set produced by Managing Editor Tim Halbur, is a compilation of historical films dating from 1939 […]

Sprawlsville Steps Back From the Edge

By Ben Fried | | 7 Comments
A section of Tysons Corner slated for infill development. Image: Fairfax County/PB PlaceMaking [PDF] Last week the Federal Transit Administration finally approved the Silver Line, a long-awaited addition to the capital region’s transit system that will extend to suburbs in northern Virginia. There are still a few hoops to jump through to secure the necessary […]

Transit Blamed for Suburban St. Louis Crime

By Brad Aaron | | 17 Comments
Last week Freakonomics picked up a story from the Riverfront Times that connects an uptick in shoplifting, fighting and other crimes in the St. Louis suburbs to a two-year-old expansion of the city’s MetroLink rail system. Ask virtually any store manager at the Saint Louis Galleria about shoplifting, and you’ll invariably get two responses: One, […]

PBS Exposes the Joys of Transit

By Ben Fried | | 12 Comments
NOW host David Brancaccio does an interview on the LA Metro. Click through for the full video. The latest episode of NOW is surely the most effective takedown of car-dependent planning ever broadcast in news magazine format. Adhering to the familiar contours of pocketbook journalism, "Driven to Despair" starts with a sympathetic portrayal of the […]
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