• After the pandemic, human nature will keep cities alive

    Sprawl may surge for a time if we ignore the fundamental needs of human habitat.
    Commentators in the newspapers and social media are predicting Americans will return to auto-oriented suburbia after the frightening experience of the COVID-19 pandemic—that low density suburbs will increase in popularity by offering a sanitary separation from other people that denser, walkable...Read more

  • Cities converting streets to public space in coronavirus crisis

    Underutilzed streets with little traffic are being transformed with temporary pedestrian and bicycle thoroughfares, shared streets, bikeways, expanded sidewalks, and outdoor eating to give citizens more room in a time of social distancing.
    Thousands of miles of city streets worldwide, and more than 500 miles in the US, are being converted for pedestrian and bicycling activity during the coronavirus crisis, according to research by Street Plans Collaborative. The firm headed by Tony Garcia and Mike Lydon, leaders in Tactical Urbanism...Read more

  • Good news on the pandemic: State of Coronavirus in America

    Cases are down in the face of a big increase in testing. Mortality is also declining. These trends hold in the states that reopened early—as well as in the nation as a whole.
    This past week has brought excellent news to report in the sixth State of Coronavirus in America (SoCA). Newly identified COVID-19 cases are down nationwide by 16 percent in the 7-day period ending May 13, in the face of another big jump in testing. Mortality is down even more—18 percent—in the...Read more

  • Testing rises: State of Coronavirus in America

    In the fifth State of Coronavirus in America report, the most encouraging trends are a dramatic rise in testing and declining mortality. But as cases rise in many states, the nation is far from out of the woods.
    As nearly 20 states moved into phase 1 of reopening their economies, testing for coronavirus soared across America, up 71 percent nationwide week over week. Meanwhile, mortalities trended down while the number of confirmed cases in the recent seven-day period rose 3 percent. As testing ramped up (...Read more