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cities

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    How much could you save by riding transit instead of driving?

    The ability to go somewhere without gassing up: priceless.Photo: JasonSo the Middle East continues to melt down, and gas prices are going up, again. This time, the jump is the second-biggest in the history of the gasoline market — 33 cents per gallon in just two weeks. According to the American Public Transportation Association, an […]

    Sarah Goodyear Cities

  • Seven ways to live in a small space with kids and not go crazy

    Whee! Living small is fun!Photo: Anna MSo you want to raise your family in a city but can’t afford much square footage? Never fear. Despite the challenges, it’s possible to live in a small space — with kids — without sacrificing your sanity. First, let’s define small, since our idea of an acceptable amount of […]

    Carla Saulter Culture

  • TV’s ‘Mad Men’ are all about high-speed rail [VIDEO]

    So you might have heard that Vincent Kartheiser, who plays Pete Campbell on the ultra-addictive AMC show Mad Men, is a fan of public transportation. In fact, Kartheiser lives in Los Angeles and goes about his daily business without owning a car, which is pretty great. Now Kartheiser and fellow Mad Men cast member Rich […]

    Sarah Goodyear Cities

  • Before George Will was against high-speed rail, he was for it

    Flip flop much?Photo: lincolnbluesRemember how we told you the other day that Newsweek columnist George Will thinks high-speed rail is a sinister progressive plot to undermine American individualism? Well, big thanks to reader Ed D’Amato, who tipped us off to something very interesting from Mr. Will’s archives. Because apparently, that wasn’t always his opinion. In […]

    Sarah Goodyear Cities

  • Are ‘smart cities’ not as smart as they think they are?

    Smart cities like Masdar, in Abu Dhabi, are all the rage. But are they intelligent in the right way?Photo: Trevor PattCross-posted from the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Intelligent cities” and “smart cities” are all the rage right now, especially in corporate image advertising related to emerging technology. But is there a downside? I think there […]

    Kaid Benfield Buildings

  • Traffic-snarled LA goes bike-wild with 1,600 miles of lanes

    The Backbone Bikeway Network proposed by the L.A. Bike Working Group was incorporated into the city’s master plan for 1,680 miles of new bike lanes.Graphic: LA Bike Working GroupThe cab driver who cut off Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa when the mayor was riding his bicycle last year may have done the city a huge […]

    Sarah Goodyear Culture

  • If Watson can win Jeopardy, can IBM make cities smarter?

    Photo: Rodrigo SennaIBM has generated a lot of buzz lately for Watson, its game-show-playing supercomputer that recently bested a couple of skin jobs on “Jeopardy.” Less high profile is the expansion of Big Blue’s computer and software systems designed to monitor and control municipal water, energy, and transportation systems. Developed under the umbrella of IBM’s […]

    Todd Woody Technology

  • How bicycling will save the economy (if we let it)

    This is the first column in a series focusing on the economics of bicycling. Imagine getting a $3,000 to $12,000 tax rebate this year. Now imagine it coming again and again. Every year it grows by around a thousand dollars. Imagine how this would change your daily life. Sounds like a teabagger’s wet dream, but […]

    Elly Blue Transportation

  • Growing her own tobacco in Brooklyn [UPDATED]

    It is, after all, just a plant.Photo: NancyThe time when having a chicken in your Brooklyn backyard was interesting has long since passed. I mean, heck, everybody has chickens these days, right? Or at least bees. Maybe even red bees. But even in a borough where hipsters regularly tote hoes up to rooftops to tend […]

    Sarah Goodyear Agriculture