Streetsblog

A change to D.C.'s zoning code will allow homeowners to build and rent out a basement apartment, or an apartment over the garage, without the long, expensive hassle of obtaining special permission.

Boston's 4.7-mile Green Line extension is supposed to bring light rail service to some of the nation's most densely populated neighborhoods, but skyrocketing construction costs have threatened to sink the project. After the price tag ballooned to $3 billion last year, about a 50 percent increase, the project was in danger of being cancelled altogether.

Tomorrow, community boards will weigh in on on major DOT street safety projects planned for Manhattan and Queens.

It's been almost six months since Paris held its big car-free day, a jubilant event that temporarily cleared the air of poisonous diesel emissions and imparted a sense of how great streets could be without the constant roar of motor vehicles.

Here's an interesting way to evaluate how well a street network works for biking. Stephen Tu and Alex Rixey are mapping streets in Montgomery County, Maryland, based on how comfortable riders of different skill levels find them.

Yesterday was national Bike to School Day, an event that shows kids what it's like to power their own way to school. The fact that we have a special day to promote what used to be part of the daily routine for many children also speaks to the way biking and walking have been marginalized on American streets.

Everyone's paying tribute to Jane Jacobs today, on what would be the pioneering urbanist's 100th birthday. Jacobs' classic critique of mid-century American urban planning dogma, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, is probably the most influential book ever written about planning. But her legacy is also contested, and her ideas still go unheeded in most cities. Was she too averse to change? And how do her theories of city-building work in practice?

Right now, the Seattle region is hashing out how to spend $50 billion to expand transit. The project list, known as ST3, is tilted heavily toward the suburbs, not the urban core where ridership would be higher.

The first week of Bike Month is crammed with events, spilling over to the weekend, when two direct actions -- one on the Grand Concourse, the other on 111th Street in Corona -- will highlight the need for safer bike infrastructure.