• Reduced demand is just as important as induced demand

    It's time to use the idea of reduced demand where it has the potential to improve a city's economy, society, and mobility.
    Induced demand is a well-known and generally acknowledged principle of road building, and may be summarized by the famous line from movie Field of Dreams : “Build it and they will come.” When substantial new road capacity is built, people will change their behavior—perhaps moving to a community...Read more

  • Not New Urbanism, nor a ‘small town’

    I was looking through the recent report, The Best Small Towns to Live Across America , published by Stacker . This kind of real estate list attracts attention, sucks you in like an awards show (which places did they pick?), and is based on nothing very real. Stacker engages in “data journalism,”...Read more

  • Sunbelt leads pedestrian deaths

    Dangerous by Design 2021 highlights the connection between roadway design and the tragic toll on people walking.
    Findings from the sixth biennial Dangerous by Design report have been released, and the sprawling metropolitan areas of the Sunbelt are leading the way in pedestrian deaths. The 2021 report draws attention to the connection between roadway design and pedestrian injuries and death nationwide. “Many...Read more

  • Time to move beyond the style wars

    A humanist framing, prioritizing the public, returns beauty to its rightful place as an essential component of good architecture.
    In order to move beyond the style wars that have plagued the debate between modernists and traditionalists for the last 75 years, I’d like to propose a humanist framing, one that prioritizes the public, on whose ground and in whose sight we build. This means architects have a greater responsibility...Read more