Once Around the Block - October 6, 2015

Here's a wrap-up of the past week's interesting urban planning, urbanism, government affairs (okay, and maybe athletics) stories.

First, a trio of stories from Dallas.

Can too much of a good thing be a bad thing for cities? Yes, according to Mark Lamster, the Dallas Morning News architecture critic. A great quote here:

If you’re thinking, hey, it’s a private development, how they build it is their business, you might consider that the shaping of public space is something in which every citizen has a stake and that this project, like so many others in this city, is subsidized through tax increment financing (TIF) dollars. Which is to say, it is effectively being built with your money.

While the Texas Central Railway between Houston and Dallas is gaining its share of attention, the same cannot be said for the Commission for High-Speed Rail in the Dallas/Fort Worth Region. But it probably should. For $4 billion, planners are working on a high speed rail route between Dallas and Fort Worth.

Also from Dallas, D Magazine shows the real estate revitalization that has taken place around Klyde Warren Park.

Once Around the Block - September 25, 2015

It's been a while since I've provided an update, but there is never a shortage of great urbanism-related articles out there. As planners, it is important to know what is happening in other parts of the country related to urbanism, the arts, historic preservation, and recreation. Here are some of the articles that have caught my attention over the past few weeks:

An article on Philly.com covers the fall of malls, and the rise of main streets as shopping destinations, including destinations for middle to high end goods. Specialty retail and dining are areas that big box retailers cannot provide as well, and where main streets have an advantage. It leaves one to wonder what might happen to the all-too-popular "town center", our country's manufactured main streets.

Speaking of big box retailers, here is a Michigan artist who creates sculptures from similarly colored items in stores, as a commentary to America's consumerism.

David Mandl, A Brooklyn-based photojournalist, documented every one of the borough's dead end streets.

A couple of stories from my former stomping grounds in Virginia;

Planners in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia provided a bold recommendation recently. The Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance suggested that the Hampton Roads area, which includes the cities of Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Hampton, Newport News, and others), act together as one large unit.

Rockingham County, Virginia, (my former employer) announced a plan to expand its urban development area. For a primarily rural county, this is a process that is going to shape suburban (and hopefully more traditional urban) growth within the county. The expansion also helps to provide opportunities for greater transportation funding from the Virginia Department of Transportation. Scott Rogers from Harrisonburg Housing Today has more details. This process is something that rural counties with independent cities inside them must face as those cities see a decrease in greenfield development. Rockingham County is focusing its urban growth to the southeast of Harrisonburg, Virginia, centered around the region's Rockingham Memorial Hospital and other planned developments.

As San Antonio continues to grow and more people desire to live near the city's center, development pressures will mount. Mission Concepcion, just south of Downtown San Antonio, is seeing that pressure. While residents have opposed the new apartment developments, mission staff and city planning staff have been supportive of the idea. As cities grow, especially our sun belt cities, it will be important to grow upward, not simply outward, something San Antonio and other Texas cities know how to do all too well.

Parking issues are forcing some Washington DC churches to leave the city. It's an unfortunate situation. Upon reading the headline, I was anticipating a burden on churches to provide parking due to some sort of parking requirements. Thankfully, that doesn't seem to be the case.

Also in DC, a community activist is reminding leaders that "D.C. cannot coffee-shop its way away from the tragedy in our streets." In a response to the city's violent past (and still current violence), community leader Bryan Weaver urges that "if we really want to end violence in our streets- empathy is the first step in bringing down the number of homicides. Lets us not be in insensitive to the cries of others in our D.C."

A few good articles from City Observatory, both from Daniel Kay Hertz. First off, "Great neighborhoods don’t have to be illegal—they’re not elsewhere" hits on the difference between zoning structures in the US compared to those of other countries. In the United States we've created segregated land use zones without much integration of other uses. A sterile single family zone rarely contains many of the services (restaurants, dry cleaners, etc.) residents drive miles for. And, we're likely to value this charm in other neighborhoods; just not ours. Hertz also follows up with an article this week, discussing the origins of many of the urban neighborhoods that are now prized. "The immaculate conception theory of your neighborhood’s origins" reminds us that many of the neighborhoods that we value were once some else's sprawl. The now-coveted bungalow neighborhoods of many cities were considered sprawl in many instances, compared to the "modestly-sized homes in multifamily buildings" of many urban areas.

Boston's City Hall Plaza (check it out) was uninviting and hostile to pedestrians and any sort of human activity. Boston's mayor decided to roll out some green carpet and throw down some plastic Adirondack chairs to solve that. Another example of tactical urbanism at its best.

Here's a fun story from Michigan State University, my alma mater. The New York Times paid a visit to MSU's Dairy Store during the weekend of the Michigan State / Oregon football game. As an agricultural school, the Dairy Store provides an opportunity to train future dairy farmers and food processors. Each Big Ten school has their own ice cream flavor. Sesquicentennial Swirl is a fan favorite.

Once Around the Block: September 1, 2015

It's been a while, but here are a few stories of interest related to urban planning, urbanism and civic affairs over the past few weeks;

Let's start off here near Houston, where a Sugar Land resident is facing a challenge from her homeowners association for displaying a set of Tyrannosaurus Rex figures in her front yard. The resident says "I knew I would trigger some response from the homeowners' association. That's a solid reason why I did it." The Houston Chronicle reports that the resident did not display the figures "simply to be a troublemaker but to draw attention to the ubiquity of homeowners' associations and what she considers their excessive control." The resident was likely made aware of the HOA's rules when they purchased their home, but this case provides an example of how restrictive HOA rules can be. Sugar Land as a municipality is zoned, unlike Houston, but zoning ordinances do not normally govern lawn ornaments. Even in unzoned Houston, HOAs can display a significant amount of force in regulating community design standards.

Aeon.com released a couple of essays this week addressing urban design and walkability. "Streets with No Name" from environmental psychologist and neuroscientist Colin Ellard states that "Boring cityscapes increase sadness, addiction and disease-related stress", asking "Is urban design a matter of public health?" The second essay, "The End of Walking" by Antonia Malchik, claims that "In Orwellian fashion, Americans have been stripped of the right to walk, challenging their humanity, freedom and health." This reference a nod to George Orwell's dystopian 1984. Malchik says she writes her essay from a place of privilege; the privilege of being able to meet most her family's needs by simply walking. This is something she cautions, most Americans might never have the luxury of doing.

An article at CityLab a few weeks ago presented a shocking statistic that nearly a third of Americans have never interacted with their next door neighbors. I suppose when we step back and think about the statistic, it's not all that shocking. We've continued to work longer hours, are commuting unreasonable distances each day for work, engage in hours of electronic and social media, and are designing and building homes and neighborhoods that shield us from social interaction. We know our neighbor's names, but I will confess, we do not know them as well as we'd like.

As the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina passed last week, The Guardian asked "Is New Orleans in danger of turning into a modern-day Atlantis?" The article cites the growing amount of land in Louisiana that is sinking into the Gulf of Mexico, and the amount of land in New Orleans that is already below sea level. Earlier last month, New York Times Magazine featured an article about policing in New Orleans, and the recent attempts to privately fund patrols, specifically in the French Quarter.

The New York Times featured an article describing the slow process that Providence, Rhode Island has gone through in redeveloping the land that I-195 once occupied. It's something to consider here in Houston, and in other downtowns across the country, as cities recognize the scourge that highways are on downtown districts.

Up in Lansing, Michigan, there are efforts being made to beautify and redevelop parts of the Michigan Avenue / Grand River corridor. The focus is the bridge that carries US-127 over Michigan Avenue. As a project website lists, the "US127 bridge over Michigan Avenue between Howard Street and Homer Avenue is seen as a barrier at a pivotal juncture between the cities of East Lansing and Lansing." As a Michigan State University urban and regional planning student, I first viewed the bridge as a barrier. Thankfully, as the perceptions (and realities) of Lansing changed during my time at MSU, I ventured under the bridge to parts of Lansing. It's a project that is still looking for a bit of funding.

The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces by William Whyte is one of the more entertaining urban planning and design videos you'll watch. Whyte's humor and simplicity makes the video worthwhile.

The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces: William H. Whyte from Nelly Oli on Vimeo.

The National Park Service and other park non-profits are battling bottled water lobbies regarding the sale of bottled water in national parks. Since bottled water has been for sale in parks, administrators and visitors have seen an increase in litter. As a frequent hiker in Shenandoah National Park during my time in Virginia, I can attest that there is no worse sight than an empty water bottle floating down a mountain stream while I sit and look at bears, deer and other flora and fauna. Parks are battling back against the bottle lobby by providing reusable water bottles and the opportunity to sponsor filling stations throughout the park. As if water bottles are bad enough, certainly no one wants a pipeline right through the heart of Shenandoah.

BeltMag highlighted the growing popularity of competitively swimming across Lake Erie, and what it takes to cross the lake.

As vacation season comes to an end soon in many northern areas, it's helpful to understand the local economies of small tourist towns. For example, in Glen Arbor, Michigan, located in Michigan's Leelanau County, seasonal workers are essential. However, local businesses are burdened by the lack of affordable housing options for seasonal workers.

And finally, some research from my alma mater, Michigan State University. Researchers in the Linguistics Department completed research surrounding the use of the word "like" in conversation. Um, like, it may, like, make you not seem as smart. It reminds me of poet Taylor Mali's "Totally, Like, Whatever."

Once Around the Block: Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Huntington, West Virginia's 4th Avenue, Old Main Corridor

Here are some  interesting urbanism and local government related articles from the past week or so:

From The Guardian, some of the urban design mistakes that have great intentions, but end up creating more isolated, unhealthy and inactive communities.

As Metro moves closer to its new bus network here in Houston, see how the agency is preparing for the dramatic change in service. This change will happen overnight, essentially at the flip of a switch. Related to the new bus network, Kurt Luhrsen, Metro’s vice president for service planning and transit reimagining said “We encourage people to live and work along these corridors where we have frequent service. So, over time it gives certain areas a bigger locational advantage.”

Houston hasn't received much rain in the last few weeks, allowing Public Works to continue to better patch potholes. In the case of other cities, like Hamtramck, Michigan, residents take matters into their own hands.

Harris County continues to grow without much form of planning, resulting in frustrations from residents. "As County Judge Ed Emmett frequently notes, the unincorporated parts of Harris County are now sufficiently populous to count as the fifth largest city in Texas." More roads are being constructed, but the county still suffers from traffic congestion. "Total lane miles in the county increased 40 percent over four years."

Politico magazine featured two transportation related articles in the past week, with one of them exploring the craziness of transportation planning acronyms. The other article, exploring what highways have done to many cities, examines the unintended consequences of the interstate highway system. The second article features a mention of Charles Marohn, highlighting Strong Towns' stance that "we simply cannot afford the highway system we have built. It already costs too much to maintain, and yet we keep building more of it."

"Change the streetscape and it changes the mindscape." - Charles Holley

In my former college town of Huntington, West Virginia, the Old Main Corridor Project is moving to its final phases. Recognizing the importance of town-and-gown relationships, Huntington has been working to improve the connectivity of its downtown with Marshall University's campus. "A change in the streetscape really is a change in the mindscape," said Charles Holley, executive director of the city of Huntington Department of Development and Planning. A survey showed that once Marshall University students left campus, they felt as though they were in a gritty area because it was dark and uninviting," Holley said. "They believed the downtown area lacked the sense of safety that they felt on campus."

Huntington is seeing great growth in its downtown, and its wonderful to see the work that has gone in to making the Old Main Corridor, or 4th Avenue, a more complete, connective street. I can't wait to visit Huntington again sometime in the near future to see these changes. As a graduate student at Marshall University, my friend, and current Huntington planning commissioner, Will Holland and myself made note of the great potential that Huntington possesses in many of its corridors, especially 4th Avenue, but also 16th Street (Hal Greer Boulevard), and also 20th Street (Marshall Memorial Boulevard).

Now for a host of Michigan and Detroit related articles:

Paul Egan at the The Detroit Free Press asked, "Are Michigan roads in lousy shape because they’re not well built to begin with, or because repairs are done in such a way that they are likely to fail?" Michigan suffers from a host of challenges on its roads as Egan mentions, "including the state’s highest-in-the nation truck weight limits — double what other states allow; its swampy soil, and its frequently harsh freeze-and-thaw cycles." This makes producing quality roads a challenge. Another quote from the article, from Michigan state senator Patrick Colbeck, “Building roads that last longer would mean that we will eventually need less money to maintain our roads, not more.”

Here's a look at some of the last pay phones around the Detroit area, and some statistics about the remaining pay phone across the country.

The University of Michigan made a creepy, fake city in which to test driverless cars.

Plans are progressing for a 26-mile bike path around the City of Detroit. Trail plans included a number of miles of an abandoned railroad line, as well as existing infrastructure, such as the Dequindre Cut.

Finally, a look back at the Mt. Clemens Race Track, a former "thunderous short-track stock car speedway." The track began as a harness racing track before giving way to stock cars on its half mile and quarter mile tracks. The story accounts the hardships of being a short-track owner. Short tracks are becoming less common, as noted in this Car and Driver article. For me, making regular summer visits to Whittemore Speedway in northern Michigan were a highlight. It's too bad we've lost so many of these tracks, especially when the entertainment has always been highly accessible, especially for families.

Once Around the Block: Monday, July 20, 2015

I missed last week's update, so this serves as a collection of some of the more interesting urban planning and urbanism-related articles from the past two weeks.

CityLab featured a couple of interesting articles this week, including "A Brief History of Household Recycling". Not that long ago households sent 100% of their trash to landfills. Household recycling programs have helped reduce that number, but more work still needs to be done. Another CityLab article from Alana Semuels, "How Chicago Is Trying to Integrate Its Suburbs" chronicles how some affordable housing programs in Chicago are moving some residents to "opportunity areas" outside the city. This seems like a good approach, but will leave many without traditional family or social structures that they are accustomed to in the city, and away from conveniences like public transit walkable neighborhoods. Meanwhile, in many of Chicago's typically suburban municipalities, there is a growing demand for urban living.

From the Detroit Free Press, home values in Detroit are beginning to recover. It's still one of the cheapest places to buy a home, but "Detroit neighborhoods are seeing prices inch up on most residential blocks with substantial gains in the strongest areas."

Much attention was paid to Minneapolis by many urban planners in the last few weeks due to the city's relaxation of parking requirements. (See the city's official parking revisions summary page.) Developers have generally embraced the change, allowing for a greater flexibility of the type of projects built. Both Joseph Stromberg at Vox and Yonah Freemark at the Chicago-area Metropolitan Planning Council provided some analysis.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver tackled the ever interesting topic of athletic stadiums, especially those privately-owned stadiums that receive such a large amount of public funding.



Grist covers why urban density now is not what it used to be.

In the Cleveland suburb of Bainbridge Township, Ohio, the Meijer supermarket chain has made an interesting request regarding a perspective land acquisition. Meijer has reportedly submitted a proposal for a new store at the site of the former Geauga Lake Amusement Park (which I visited as a child, as well as Sea World) along with a long list of establishments the retail giant wants prohibited from locating nearby.

Back in Detroit, Stan Humphries, lead economist at Zillow, observes the city's revitalization efforts, calling other cities to take note. "Detroit is testing the hypothesis that to rebuild a broken city, it is necessary to literally destroy some parts, while essentially privatizing other large swathes."

Also, the Detroit Free Press conducted an interview with Maurice Cox, Detroit's new Planning Director.

A collection of articles discussing the conservative case for cities, against the suburbs, and what conservatives can do for cities. Also, a conservative case for more rail transit in Texas.

Finally, Slate magazine featured a breakdown of the screen and scene time that each Seinfeld character received throughout the show's existence. The show evolved in its presentation and pace, with supporting characters playing a bigger role in each show as story lines became more complex.

Once Around the Block: Monday, July 6, 2015

I hope everyone had a blast of an Independence Day weekend (pun totally intended). Here are a few articles from the world of city planning, urbanism, and general interest from the past week or so:

Let's start again this week with another set of articles and stories from Michigan. Detroit is a city that continues to receive a great deal of attention from urban planners and public policy experts, especially as the city attempts to restructure its infrastructure and governmental structure.

An interview on Local 4's Flashpoint program with anchor Devin Scillian included urban planner Gil Penalosa. Penalosa stopped by the WDIV studios to discuss what exactly Detroit, and other cities for that matter, might need to accomplish in order to be considered a "great city". It's encouraging that this sort of discussion is happening in Detroit, and frankly, this serves as a reminder to other cities that this sort of discussion should be occurring even when your city seems to be thriving (Houston!). Penalosa makes a number of suggestions for Detroit and other cities. When asked about what people in cities want, Penalosa says that most desire to be in a city that allows us to use our senses. "Just how birds fly, and fish swim, people walk."




Last week Stephen Colbert found himself in Monroe, Michigan, hosting the monthly local-access cable show "Only in Monroe". Since Colbert's new stage is not yet complete for his Late Show debut, he took to local access. Colbert chatted with regular hosts, and registered nurses, Kaye Lani Rae Rafko, the 1988 winner of the Miss America pageant, (and personification of Parks and Recreation's character Joan Callamezzo) and Michelle Baumann. Colbert then featured the "vicious internet flame war" happening in Monroe between Yelp reviewer "Mark M", and Jerry's Frenchtown Bar and Grill. Finally, "a local Michigander who is making a name for himself in the competitive world of music" stopped by. That local Michigander was none other than Eminem.

Once Around the Block: Monday, June 29, 2015

Here are a couple of interesting articles from around the web over the past two weeks. (I skipped last week on account of enjoying a week of vacation in Michigan. There's not much better than a Michigan summer!)

The topic of Michigan is a good lead into this first article, or ranking, from Thrillist. I'm not sure how anyone could ever really rank these sorts of things, but it's always great to receive national attention if you're Michigan. Frankly, too many people doubt the state's beauty and have no idea about just how beautiful of a state it is.  But, nonetheless, I wanted to celebrate Michigan landing atop Thrillist's "Definitive and Final Ranking of all 50 States". (More from Freep.com)

Geographer Jim Russell had a few nice takes on Houston this week, on his personal blog, Burgh Diaspora, where he challenged Texas Exceptionalism, (being from the Midwest and spending a few years in Virginia, I don't understand the Texas Exceptionalism crowd), and also challenges Houston's continued sprawl and annexation. Russell says "Population growth from annexation isn't an indicator of economic health."

Savannah, Georgia-based urban designer Kevin Klinkenberg featured a piece on his blog this week examining sprawl, something that we're quite familiar with here in Houston. He uses four categories to describe sprawl, 1) Pre-Interstate suburbia, 2) Standard subdivision suburbia, 3) Master-planned communities, and 4) rural and exurban sprawl. Read more as he concentrates on Pre-Interstate suburbia.

Pope Francis issued a message a few weeks ago on climate. Emily Badger in the Washington Post writes, "The Pope, it turns out, is an urban planner." This shouldn't come as a surprise, as even scripture contains a wide variety of directives leading God's people to faithful stewardship of all that God has graced this world with. The Pope's paper, found here, details our relationship with the environment, urging "those who design buildings, neighbourhoods, public spaces and cities, ought to draw on the various disciplines which help us to understand people’s thought processes, symbolic language and ways of acting. It is not enough to seek the beauty of design. More precious still is the service we offer to another kind of beauty: people’s quality of life, their adaptation to the environment, encounter and mutual assistance."

Badger summarizes the Pope's statements by saying, "In other words: Architects, designers and urban planners have a moral obligation to care about more than what their creations look like. Their decisions determine how the poor live, how communities interact, how cities tax the environment."
Pete Saunders at The Corner Side Yard posted a reminder about metropolitan comparisons this week. Pete's takeaway is that "There is greater variation within metros than there is between them. This idea should inform our urban policymaking."

Pete also featured an article this week, "Revisiting Black Urbanism". Pete highlights one of his earliest blog posts and examines the lack of black urbanists, or at least the lack of exposure and recognition of black urbanists. Pete announces at the end of this post that he is working on creating a "short list of black urbanists and show how they've impacted our nation's cities". I look forward to Pete's upcoming post.

Finally this week, a series of short essays by engineer and neighborhood advocate Dallas May is featured on Dallas's D Magazine website. May is a featured author in Patrick Kennedy's StreetSmart blog. May touches on some of the topics Pope Francis spoke about in his encyclical letter on the environment.

May's first essay, "God is Found in the City", views our cities as the place where God is found. Why is this you ask? May informs us, and more importantly, scripture informs us, that "God is found in the city because he is found in the people of the city who bare his image."

May's second essay, "What if God planned a City?" exams the city planning principles that the authors of the Torah included in their writing. He highlights a passage of the book of Numbers. It's here we see an instruction to include what we now call a "greenbelt" around their city. But this isn't the main point May is making. May says "The take away from Numbers 35 is that the city God would plan is a place not only of economic development activity, but also second chances." May closes with his professional goal; "I want my city to be a place where every hard working person, regardless of their history or background, has a chance to build a good life for themselves."

His third essay, "The Value of the Neighborhood Church" examines the role of churches in our neighborhoods. May states that churches offer a niche community, and a place where everyone is welcome. May makes a quip that the City of Plano's Legacy Town Center, much like many other "town centers" across this country, is 'a great place to “Live Work and Play” -so long as your credit card is accepted.' This is a place that excels at economic development, but fails at community building. As a diagnostic, May searches for churches nearby, and sees almost nothing. His final point is this: If you don’t include space for the pieces of communities that bring people from different walks of life together (without having to use a credit cards), you failed at city building.

"Once a member of the community can’t pay to play, the community rejects the person. That’s not community at all."

For a bit more fun, to the celebrate Hulu's inclusion of Seinfeld in their streaming library Vanity Fair published a ranking of every Seinfeld episode. There's not much to argue about, as most of the top episodes are from seasons 5 and 6, which is when the show hit its stride. 

Once Around the Block: Monday, June 15, 2015

As a planner I like to see what is happening in other parts of the country, and in other cities, so I thought it may be useful to compile the past week's interesting articles into a weekly blog post. I've labelled it "Once Around the Block", just as a quick look at what I thought were some of the most interesting urban planning and urbanism-related articles from the past week.

Governing featured the work of Charles Marohn and Strong Towns, the non-profit that seeks an America where cities, towns and neighborhoods are financially strong and resilient.

Marohn contests that "we have built too many highways. We have built them in places that didn’t need them. We have built them in places that can’t afford to maintain them." Marohn tells his audiences around the country that highway building and suburban sprawl are essentially a Ponzi scheme, something that should be familiar to us here in Houston. Below is an excerpt from Alan Ehrenhalt's article at Governing:

A new interchange or bypass connected to an interstate highway brings a community a much-appreciated windfall as residential and commercial development takes place near the highway, and the homeowners and commercial tenants begin contributing property taxes to the local treasury. For a few years, everyone is happy. But in the long run, property taxes aren’t sufficient to meet the costs that the development creates: additional sewers, road repair, and the creation of new parks and public schools to cater to the families that move in.

The local government can cover these bills by attracting more growth, and this is what many of them do. The new round of growth pays for the previous one -- this is why Marohn calls it a Ponzi scheme. But the opportunities for growth are ultimately finite, and eventually most communities are forced into debt to pay for all the growth they have cheerfully approved. “Few cities,” Marohn says, “have any clue of the scale of their commitment for infrastructure maintenance.”

This collection of articles from Portland's Willamette Week takes a look at the growing frustration of some residents with new apartment complexes. Willamette Week writer Aaron Mesh says in his "Grow Up Portland" article that the apartments "pop up seemingly overnight, multiplying faster than food carts on every street corner in the city." (Much of the same can be said here in Houston, although our multifamily growth has slowed some in recent months). A resident of one of Portland's new apartment buildings offers us reasons as to "Why My Apartment is Good for Portland."


Ben Adler at Grist writes that if cities want more affordable housing, they need to build more mass transit. And, not only provide a sparse option of transit, but have it run frequently enough to make a difference in the lives of residents:

The lower cost of commuting by transit than by private car helps to offset high housing prices. In other words, once you factor in the cost of transportation, building more transit means you’re essentially making the housing along the transit lines more affordable.

City Observatory and Joe Cortright published "Less in Common" last week, a report examining civic commons and city success. For all the ills that suburbia is claimed to fix, could it be causing even more harm than we think?

In North America, development patterns, particularly the growth of suburbs after World War II, diminished access to an easily shared urban life.  Space and experiences became more private, fueled by suburban expansion, large lots, and the predominance of single-family homes. These development patterns have resulted in Americans having “less in common.”

Cortright gives data surrounding our country's growing social isolation and economic segregation continues, concluding that "If we’re going to make progress in tackling a range of our nation’s challenges, and live up to our full potential, we need to reinvigorate the civic commons."


Here in Houston, Kyle Shelton, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University examines the city's transit deserts. Just to prove the point, Raj Mankad, editor of Rice Design Alliance's Cite Magazine, set out to ride from Houston to Galveston using only public transit. He proved successful, although with razor-thin margins of error.


From StreetsBlog, an interesting thought about the blame surrounding pedestrian deaths and injuries, especially in New York City.


Finally, a few articles regarding the pool party and its fallout in McKinney, Texas. The Atlantic's Olga Khazan writes "The Dark Side of McKinney, 'The Best Place to Live in America'".  A helpful reminder can come from all of this, from Desiring God's Jasmine Holmes. Holmes reminds us that when we begin to discuss events like these, "...we forget not only the humanity of those we are speaking to, but also the humanity of those we are speaking about."