You Can’t Have Family-Friendly Cities Without Kid-Friendly Streets

More American cities are making room for people to live in downtown areas -- even smaller cities like Tucson, Cleveland and Fort Wayne, Indiana. But generally the target demographics are young singles and empty nesters. A lot of cities assume that all parents who can move to the suburbs will do so.

Writer Darin Givens, who lives with his wife and young children in downtown Atlanta, says it doesn't need to be that way. There are now between 5,600 and 7,000 kids living in downtown Vancouver, he writes in a post at Medium. He explains how the city went about making a downtown that works for parents and kids:

The advice comes from a Brent Toderian interview at Vox that's worth reading in full. In addition to the design of housing and the provision of services like daycares, Toderian stressed the importance of making streets safe enough for older children to navigate on their own.

More recommended reading today: TransitCenter has an update on Denver's renewed attention to improving bus service and walking access to transit. And Green Caltrain reports that Palo Alto is planning to hike commuter parking fees to fund transit and other service to reduce driving, but the price would still be far less than the price for equivalent transit passes.