How to Calm a Street, Starting with Your Own Anger

Frustrated by cars speeding down your neighborhood street at 40 mph? Don’t blame the people driving the cars.

A 3-D Approach to Public Investment

What can these 3-D crosswalks teach us about investing in our communities’ needs?

#SlowtheCars, Transportation, Top StoryCam GallantMay 2, 2022Pedestrian Safety, pedestrian safety, pedestrian crossing, pedestrians, Crosswalk, streets, #SlowTheCars, Safety, safety, tactical urbanism, Tactical Urbanism, public investment, walkability

NTSB Chair After Car Crash: “There’s a Problem With That Road Design”

The chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, Jennifer Homendy, recently survived a car crash. And she’s not blaming it on reckless driving.

#SlowtheCars, Quednau, Roads and Streets, Top StoryRachel QuednauApril 6, 2022Safety, car crash, cars, traffic engineering, streets, Street Design, #SlowTheCars

How Traffic Engineers Can Finally Tame Stroads

This engineer offers a strategy for slowing down cars that could be a bridge between what communities want and what engineers want.

#SlowtheCars, Engineering Profession, Roads and Streets, Strategies, Transportation, Top StoryMike BrownFebruary 15, 2022traffic engineering, engineers, engineering profession, Pedestrian Safety, pedestrian safety, STROADS, streets, Street Design, Brainerd MN, #SlowTheCars

Texas DOT Doubles Down on Urban Highway Expansions

San Antonio residents were working on a downtown road diet and neighborhood redevelopment…until TxDOT decided to completely ignore the will of 78% of local voters.

#NoNewRoads, #SlowtheCars, Roads and Streets, Stange, Transportation, Top StoryJay StangeFebruary 8, 2022DOT, Texas, Houston, #NoNewRoads, #SlowTheCars, road diet, Road Diet, roads, streets, STROADS

A Community Forced to Play the Infrastructure Squid Game

Residents of this Houston neighborhood thought they were winning the lottery with a government-sponsored infrastructure project. Instead, they endured a seven-month-long nightmare.

Infrastructure, Local Government, Neighborhoods, Roads and Streets, Maintenance, Top StoryJuan Antonio SortoNovember 30, 2021Infrastructure, streets, neighborhood, Neighborhoods, neighborhood change, Houston, infrastructure maintenance, Hurricanes, hurricane harvey, race, Race

Traffic Deaths Aren't "Meant to Be"

Our broken transportation system wasn’t pre-ordained; it was built out of the choices we’ve made. And we need to start making better ones if we want to fix it.

#SlowtheCars, Member Post, Roads and Streets, Transportation, Top StoryMichel Durand-WoodOctober 4, 2021Safety, Pedestrian Safety, pedestrian safety, STROADS, Street Design, streets, canada, Canada, Winnipeg, transportation, #SlowTheCars

Engineers Should Not Design Streets: A Programmer's Take

Software engineers don’t design user interface, so why do we let civil engineers design streets?

The Environment Question

Where does the Strong Towns approach intersect with environmentalism?

Marohn, Roads and Streets, Walkability, Top StoryCharles MarohnSeptember 16, 2021environment, strong towns approach, Electric Vehicles, walkability, streets

Let's Talk Great Streets

Abby and Chuck deviate from the norm a little on this week’s Upzoned by talking not about an article from the internet, but about one chapter of a particular book (hint: it’s Confessions).

Confessions Book, Planning Profession, Roads and Streets, Transportation, Top StoryStrong TownsSeptember 8, 2021Confessions of a Recovering Engineer, confessions book, Upzoned, Street Design, streets

Iterating to Safety (Excerpt from Confessions of a Recovering Engineer)

We need to #SlowTheCars on every street that's been the site of an auto-related fatality. The best way to do so? Through an iterative approach.

#SlowtheCars, Confessions Book, Marohn, Roads and Streets, Transportation, Top StoryCharles MarohnAugust 30, 2021iteration, streets, Pedestrian Safety, Safety, Street Design, Confessions of a Recovering Engineer, confessions book, #SlowTheCars, confessions excerpt

Kansas City Residents Demand Safer Streets

The 85th percentile rule makes it hard to ensure safe streets, so residents of northeast Kansas City took matters into their own hands.

Engineers Should Not Design Streets

Engineers are great at building roads, but we should never ask them to build our streets.

#SlowtheCars, Marohn, Engineering Profession, Top Story, Engineering ReformCharles MarohnMay 6, 2021roads, traffic engineering, engineers, streets

The Subtle Relationship Between Traffic Deaths and Congestion

What officials and engineers need to understand before sinking more resources into infrastructure investment.

#SlowtheCars, Transportation, Roads and Streets, Top StorySteffen BerrApril 5, 2021Steffen Berr, transportation, traffic congestion, #SlowTheCars, roads, streets, traffic engineering

The Problem with Creating "Slow Streets" Too Fast

“[The] urgency to move fast is in conflict with the speed of trust, and the pace that actually allows for input from everyone who’s affected by these decisions.”

Podcast, Upzoned, Coronavirus, Roads and Streets, Tactical Urbanism, Top StoryStrong TownsJanuary 13, 2021open streets, tactical urbanism, streets, public engagement

The Bottom-Up Revolution is... Working Together to Make a Street for People

How one urban advocate helped transform a downtown street into a pedestrian-friendly public space— plus tips for how you can do the same in your own city.

Podcast, Taking Action, The Bottom-Up Revolution, Success Story, Walkability, Top Story, Roads and StreetsStrong TownsDecember 3, 2020The Bottom-Up Revolution, streets, open streets, Canada, local business, downtown, taking action

The Road to Insolvency is Long

We’ve never been able to afford the Suburban Experiment. But now that our 20th-century infrastructure needs to be repaired or replaced, the bills are coming due in an obvious way.

Herriges, Kansas City, Roads and Streets, Suburban ExperimentDaniel HerrigesJuly 29, 2020roads, streets, Kansas City, suburban experiment, kcmo2020, kansas city series

"Snow plows come in only one size: ginormous." Or do they?

Do we size our city for the equipment we want, or size our equipment for the city we need?

Roads and Streets, Top StoryCharles MarohnJanuary 29, 2020STROADS, narrow streets, Fire Trucks, Fire Departments, streets, snow

My City Needs Money for Street Improvements. Here’s Why I Voted Not to Give It to Them.

Communities are stuck in a spiral of infrastructure spending. Who will stand up and say enough is enough?

Growth Ponzi Scheme, Roads and Streets, Top StoryBrent IsaacsNovember 26, 2019Infrastructure, Growth Ponzi Scheme, municipal finance, oklahoma, tulsa, roads, streets

The Streets of Paris

The United States isn’t France, but there are still plenty of lessons to be learned—and myths to be busted—by looking at the way their streets are designed to build wealth.