• 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

  • The morbid and mortal toll of sprawl

    The ‘elephant in the living room' of rising and preventable US traffic deaths and injuries is government-funded roads in drive-only places.
    A federal report this week revealed that traffic deaths have risen 9 percent over the last year and have totaled 19,100 in the first six months of 2016. More than 2.2 million people have been seriously injured in that time. The economic cost of those accidents is estimated annually at $410 billion...Read more