Cities

Joel Kotkin: The man urbanists love to hate

The prominent “suburban apologist” talks about how much he likes cities and how he loves to ride his bike -- and generally goes all Jane Jacobs on us. Wait, wha?

Greg Hanscom Cities

The a$#&^% biker problem: Why it’s hard to share the road

There’s no doubt about it. Riding a bicycle on the streets can turn you into a monster. But whose fault is that?

Scott Carlson Transportation

Boehner bombs: House speaker fails on transportation bill

With just hours left before a congressional holiday, it looks like House Speaker John Boehner, rather than accepting a bipartisan compromise, has opted to do nothing about the nation's roads.

Greg Hanscom Cities

Passing on gas: Driving rates falling across the board

The decline of U.S. car culture -- among young people and in general -- has serious implications for transportation policy.

Clark Williams-Derry Transportation

San Francisco saves gas by making better parking spaces cost more

In San Francisco, a parking place costs more the more people want to use it. This might sound like common sense, but it’s actually a radical experiment in keeping people from circling endlessly, looking for a spot and wasting gas. Since 2010, the pricing for 7,000 metered spaces in the city has changed in real […]

Sarah Laskow Cities

Street food boom towns: Three West Coast case studies

They may never catch up to Portland, but neighboring cities Seattle and Vancouver, B.C., are making strides to put food carts front and center.

Eric Hess Cities

Up a creek: A run-down urban neighborhood finds life in a dead stream

In one of the tougher corners of San Diego, a group of committed residents and activists has set out to restore a long-forgotten waterway -- and in the process, give the community a much-needed shot in the arm.

Enrique Gili Cities

In New York City, stealing a bike is easy

If a bike gets stolen in the middle of New York City, does it make it a sound? With his own bike, a bunch of doomed locks, and a variety of tools, Casey Neistat (who you may remember from this video) proves that nope, it basically doesn’t. The film above is a 2005 version of […]

Sarah Laskow Transportation

Watch mildly offensive national stereotypes promote biking

The Dutch are not always bastions of political correctness (cough cough blackface Christmas). So it’s kind of a relief that when they chose three national stereotypes to feature in this mid-1980s pro-bike campaign, they went with the proper English lady, the American cowboy, and the horndog Italian. Coulda been worse.

Jess Zimmerman Transportation

This train can launch you into space

Getting into space via shuttle is difficult and expensive. So why not take a train? Startram is a magnetic levitation train that could — theoretically — launch people into orbit for a fraction of the cost.