• An international vision for cities, inspired by Burning Man

    Street grids hold special power to solve problems of massive urbanization, according to Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Romer.
    Paul Romer, the 2018 Nobel Prize winner for economics, has been thinking about how to accommodate 2.3 billion people who are projected to migrate to cities in developing parts of the world by 2050. He has proposed that functional Democracies should administer what he calls “ charter cities ” to...Read more

  • The troubling rise in pedestrian deaths

    We have made cars safer, but we still are reluctant to make streets safer.
    The steady rise in pedestrian deaths since 2009 has raised considerable alarm, and the latest data puts the 2018 pedestrian fatality rate near the 1990 peak. Nobody has a definitive answer for why this is occurring. “Analysts have speculated that the increase in SUV sales , as well as the growing...Read more

  • Cities benefit from restoring two-way traffic

    Two-way streets prove safer, more walkable, and more supportive of business than one-way streets for Midwestern cities.
    Midwestern cities report significant success restoring two-way traffic on one-way streets. New Albany, Indiana, switched more than four miles of city streets while implementing traffic-calming measures made possible by the conversions. Police Chief Wm. Todd Bailey reports, in a public letter, that...Read more

  • Good congestion, bad congestion

    Our model for traffic congestion is flawed. We need to make the crucial distinction between good and bad congestion and plan our transportation systems accordingly.
    A few years ago, after taking a blood test, my doctor told me I had a cholesterol problem. I wasn’t in immediate danger, but I started running regularly. After a year I returned for tests, and he told me the good news: My life expectancy had risen eight years . That was my best checkup ever. What...Read more