• Life without the EPA

    As I read about plans to reduce the US Environmental Protection Agency’s budget by two-thirds, I am reminded of my travel to Beijing in 2014. As a first-time visitor, I was overwhelmed by the noticeably high level of pollution and poor air quality. At that time the level of ultrafine particles was...Read more
  • Transformative transit this year

    New rail and bus rapid transit routes are being built in virtually every large metropolitan area in the US, Canada, and Mexico. Almost 800 route-miles of new transit infrastructure–most of it with dedicated lanes–is now under construction, at a total cost of almost $80 billion, to eventually serve...Read more
  • Land use, meet transportation

    About thirty years ago, someone told me that “The best transportation plan for a city is a good land use plan.” Over the years, the more I thought about it, the more sense this idea made to me. I realized that the potential for land use changes to help the average city from a transportation...Read more
  • What is a Smart City?

    When it comes to achieving a "Smart City," the qualities that make up the very lifeblood of urban living take priority over technocratic solutions.
    At a recent conference three words — smart, safe, sustainable — were used to define a "Smart City." However, the follow-up explanation for the words encouraged high-capital investment in technocratic solutions, yet did not mention quality of life, urban form, community, or placemaking — the very...Read more