Cities and Countries

Gresham, Oregon used to look like your typical suburb. Lots of lawns and lots of parking. When Portland's MAX light-rail line expanded to Gresham, developers saw an opportunity to bring something different: walkable development. But a downturn in the local real estate market interceded. One developer trying to build a four-story condo project decided that he'd be better off with a video store surrounded by surface parking.

Washington D.C. is making the biggest splash (policy-wise) on Bike to Work Day this year, with officials announcing a major expansion of the city's bike-sharing system. According to Greater Greater Washington, the new system will have around 1,100 bikes at 114 stations across the entire District and in neighboring Arlington County. If the expansion goes into effect, bike-sharing in the capital could be transformed from a niche service into an essential piece of the transportation system.

In San Francisco, the Pavement to Parks program has launched an initiative that may someday alter the way U.S. cities treat their commercial strips.

From Infrastructurist by way of Buzzfeed comes this video of bike commuters in Utrecht. With a population of around 300,000, Utrecht is the fourth largest city in the Netherlands, and has a 33 percent bike mode share. According to the write-up accompanying the YouTube post, this intersection handles "no less than" 18,000 bicycles and 2,500 buses per day.

I lived in Athens, Georgia, for seven years, and though Atlanta is only about an hour away (by car, of course), with a little effort I could probably count the number of times I made the trip. This video, the first in the American Makeover web series, goes a long way toward explaining why "Sprawlanta" -- all 8,378 square miles of it -- is no place for anyone interested in a walkable environment.

Streetfilms' Vancouver correspondent Frank Lopez reports on a development that will sow envy in the heart of anyone who walks or bikes over the narrow, congested paths of the Brooklyn and Pulaski bridges:

On the fourth Sunday of every month, cyclists take to the streets of Los Angeles for the "Black Kids on Bikes" (BKoB) ride. BKoB is part of a series of events called "Freedom Rides," aimed at getting more black Angelenos to enjoy the unique experience of group cycling. BKoB aims to provide a safe, fun venue for kids to ride the streets. Despite the name, the rides are open to cyclists of all races, ages, and skill levels.

A few weeks ago, Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë announced a plan to transform his city's waterfront, closing 1.2 miles of expressway on the left bank of the Seine and slowing the highway along the right bank to the speed of a city boulevard. For an added bit of historical irony, the city's waterfront expressway is named for Georges Pompidou, the president responsible for scarring the nation's cities with highways -- the French Robert Moses, if you will.