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Talking Headways Podcast: Les Rues Are Made for Walking

Last week, Smart Growth America brought us the bad news: More than 47,000 people died while walking between 2003 and 2012. Most victims are killed on high-speed arterial roads. A disproportionate number are elderly or racial minorities.

Last week, Smart Growth America brought us the bad news: More than 47,000 people died while walking between 2003 and 2012. Most victims are killed on high-speed arterial roads. A disproportionate number are elderly or racial minorities.

Paris showed us a powerful solution: The city is lowering its default speed limit to 30 kilometers per hour, or about 18 mph. Speed limits are already set at that level on about a third of the city’s streets. That’s good policy, and one cities around the world should be following.

Meanwhile, the New York Times informed us that as the housing market recovers, the vast majority of new construction is made up of multi-family housing — a major shift from the over-production of single-family homes that lasted for decades.

In this episode, Jeff and I process all of that and more. Find holes in our analysis in the comments. And don’t miss an episode: Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher or by signing up for our RSS feed.

And lastly, our spring pledge drive ends on Sunday and we haven’t yet hit our goal of reaching 400 donors. Donate today! Your support makes this podcast happen!

Photo of Tanya Snyder
Tanya became Streetsblog's Capitol Hill editor in September 2010 after covering Congress for Pacifica Radio’s Washington bureau and for public radio stations around the country. She lives car-free in a transit-oriented and bike-friendly neighborhood of Washington, DC.

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