• How fire chiefs and traffic engineers make places less safe

    Normal, walkable streets are under attack in Celebration, Florida. The battle threatens your neighborhood, wherever you live.
    Of all the urbanism specialists with tunnel vision, fire chiefs, fire marshals, and traffic engineers are probably the most dangerous. And by “dangerous,” I don’t just mean that they’re a threat to good urbanism; they also get people killed, which is exactly the opposite of what they are...Read more

  • Great idea: Interconnected street networks

    In order to get good streets, you have to think beyond any single street—an idea that is at the core of New Urbanism. Dendritic networks lead to fragmented and dispersed land uses.
    In celebration of the upcoming CNU 25.Seattle , Public Square is running the series 25 Great Ideas of the New Urbanism. These ideas have been shaped by new urbanists and continue to influence cities, towns, and suburbs. The series is meant to inspire and challenge those working toward complete...Read more

  • Do Complete Street laws make pedestrians safer?

    The carnage continues. We need to go beyond policies and transform streets themselves, according to a new report.
    Since 2009, complete streets policies nationwide have risen nearly 10-fold, but pedestrian deaths have also increased. More than 46,149 Americans were struck and killed by motor vehicles while walking in the 10-year-period ending in 2014, according to Dangerous By Design , a report by Smart Growth...Read more

  • Streets are social and economic engines, not just car routes

    The transportation engineering toolbox is missing key tools when it comes to traditional cities, towns, and neighborhoods.
    Streets serve vital economic and social functions. Only in the 20th Century did the designers of streets place priority on the movement of motor vehicles—often to the exclusion of economic and social purposes of thoroughfares. Engineers will tell you exactly how many cars and trucks are expected to...Read more