Urban Design
Streetsblog California
Feds Propose Major Rule Changes to Eliminate Barriers to Safer Streets
Applying highway design standards to city streets has been a disaster for urban neighborhoods. The same things that make highways safer for driving at 65 mph -- wide lanes, "clear zones" running alongside the road that have no trees or other "obstacles" -- make surface streets dangerous and dreadful for walking, killing street life.
October 8, 2015
Say Hello to Orange County’s First Green Bike Lanes
The City of Santa Ana has added painted bike lanes on four different streets throughout Santa Ana in the past two weeks. Prior, neither Santa Ana nor Orange County did not have one.
August 12, 2015
With New Rule, Feds Forget Their Own Best Ideas on Street Design
Antiquated, car-oriented road design guidance is losing its vise grip on our cities. Other manuals are challenging the dominance of the "design bible" issued by AASHTO, the coalition of state DOTs. But the federal government might be missing an important opportunity to enshrine street safety for all modes.
July 30, 2015
Infographic: Historic Housing Trends in Santa Monica
The above infographic traces the historical trends of housing in Santa Monica. Data are from existing housing stock. As is clear from the graphic, in the last thirty years relatively little housing has been built due to zoning restrictions and political obstacles. While Santa Monica’s population has remained relatively static over the last several decades, the county population has doubled.
July 23, 2015
The Worst Bike Lane in the World?
The title of this post may be a bit hyperbolic, but Orinda really deserves attention for this one-of-a-kind bike facility. As seen in the image above, a bike lane on Camino Pablo signals that bicyclists should go straight ahead—between two right-turn lanes that lead to a freeway onramp.
June 25, 2015
San Diego Mayor and City Leaders Embrace Vision Zero
Flanked by city officials, fellow elected officials, the chief of police and the head of the progressive transportation advocacy group Circulate San Diego, Mayor Kevin Faulconer announced their support for San Diego to embrace Vision Zero. Faulconer promises his administration will produce a plan to reduce traffic deaths in the city to zero through progressive transportation planning and law enforcement that puts safety above all other considerations.
June 22, 2015
Suburbs Could Have Been So Great
If American suburbs had been built to match the aspirations of some of their early proponents like Lewis Mumford or Catherine Bauer Wurster, they could look very different today.
May 7, 2015