From Strong Towns Blog —Setting Priorities at the Dept of Transportation

CHARLES MAROHN

Last week I was asked to privately comment on a priority ranking system being developed by a state DOT. After providing a (not flattering) critique of the proposed ranking system, I then offered my thoughts on how I would develop one.

Since I'm quite confident my suggestions will generate little more than amusement for anyone beyond the individuals/organization that requested my thoughts, I've decided to share them here. I'm not trying to embarrass any specific DOT or endanger any relationship (I was asked to comment in private) and so I've replaced the name with XDOT. Go ahead and substitute whatever your local DOT is because my advice would be the same. Read more: Setting Priorities at the DOT - Strong Towns Blog - Strong Towns

From This Big City — #citydata: Ten Facts About Cities

The #citydata series has been going down a storm on Tumblr and Facebook, sharing factoids about cities in a highly visual format. After consolidating the first ten parts into a post on This Big City a few weeks back, it’s time for another instalment.

Read more:#citydata: Ten Facts About Cities (Part 2) | This Big City

From Car Free Baltimore — 6 Small Ways To Make Baltimore More Livable Right Now

Bellingham, WA. Small changes, big impact.

While Baltimore waits for a new arena, and a handful of other big projects, here are a few smaller things that can be done right now to make people say, “Hey, this place is alright”.

1. Low Cost Transit Improvements

Eric Hatch’s ideas are gold, so I don’t need to repeat them here. I especially liked his points about extending transit operating hours to 3am, adding light rail infill stations, and inter-neighborhood shuttle bugs. Having lived in Hampden for a few months now, I can say the neighborhood is a transit desert and needs better connections to Johns Hopkins and downtown. Baltimore has been car-focused for so long that we have to make transit twice as good to attract more choice riders. Small improvements which show MTA cares about quality are a first step. Also, may it’s time to rethink the entire bus network like Portland did in 1982. Read more: Ways We Can Make Baltimore More Livable Right Now | Car Free Baltimore

Encore: Hello #Nanaimo? San Bernardino on the Line ― With Your Wakeup Call @StrongTowns @G_Anderson1 @Bill_McKay11 http://t.co/WJ7tWvI1DE
— TheSidewalkBallet (@1sidewalkballet) September 2, 2013

New #Nanaimo @SaveCollieryDam blog post http://t.co/ECGqLc57fn
— TheSidewalkBallet (@1sidewalkballet) September 1, 2013

Patrick Condon in The Tyee —Whose City Is It, Anyway?

Photo by Charles Campbell

What do the demonstrations at Gezi Park in Turkey, the mass protests in Natal, Brazil, and the uproar over recent rezoning in Vancouver's Grandview-Woodlands neighbourhood have in common?

Everything.

Read more: The Tyee – Whose City Is It, Anyway?

From Future Cities — Janette Sadik-Khan To Cities: Take Back Your Streets

Janette Sadik-Khan, NYC DOT Commissioner and president of the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), discusses NACTO's mission and forthcoming Street Design Guide: a permission slip for cities change their streets in ways that are out of step with typical national design. More at: Janette Sadik-Khan - NACTO to Cities: Take Back Your Streets | Future Cities