My heart goes out to Wisconsin this week, but there is a part of me that says “you got what you asked for.” According to the Capital Times in Madison, Ray LaHood has announced the U.S. Government will not be including imrpovements to the Hiawatha Line, connecting Milwaukee and Chicago, in its latest round of funding. The state of Wisconsin requested $150 million in upgrades to the line, which is growing in popularity, having increased ridership by 6% last year to 783,000 riders. This news is a shame for users of the line, but it comes on the heels of…

My colleague Charles Marohn from Strongtowns forwarded me this excellent video entitled “Roads Unfit for People.” It features a very well done look at an intersection in London where a traffic signal was removed. It may seem counterintuitive, as pointed out in the video, but the intersection became safer after the removal of the light. Watch the cars, bikes and pedestrians navigate the intersection and you’ll see this delicate dance of everyone using caution and allowing each other to proceed through in a somewhat orderly manner – again counterintuitive at first but logical when you think about it. Now watch…

What impact does increased housing have on cities? This is particularly important to cities like Minneapolis and St. Paul, which have flatlined in terms of population growth as of late, according to the 2010 Census. (For a very good article about this, read Steve Berg at MinnPost.) This is very disturbing for a city with so much potential. So what do we do about this? Lot’s of things, from plans to zoning for infill development, financial incentives for developers to develop and residents to choose the city, to imrovements to transit and the public realm. But what about getting existing…

A new video by Streetfilms looks at the many blessings of urbanism in Melbourne, Australia. Watch it here at Kaid Benfield’s blog, brought to you via Mike Lydon. The lessons of good urbanism abound. It should be noted Jan Gehl has a role in the success of Melbourne, as documented in an article I wrote for ULI here. Enjoy!

I have some good news and I have some bad news. The good news is the Central Corridor light rail line, connecting Minneapolis and St. Paul, received full funding last week. Trains will start running in 2014. The bad news is within one day of the funding announcement, the St. Paul City Council voted to reduce density along its route! Two steps forward and one step back. The Twin Cities will see its second light rail line, serving downtown Minneapolis and the planned multimodal hub there, the University of Minnesota, an array of neighorhoods along University Avenue, the Minnesota state…

The Big Dig West made it in to the New York Times this past Sunday, prominently on the National page in the print edition. Read the story here. As well, check out this excellent short movie at Streetfilms, starring John Norquist of CNU and speaks broadly to the issue of urban freeway removal, and has a lot of takeaway value for Seattle. The good news is the anti-tunnel folks in Seattle gathered thousands more signatures than the minimum required, and the proposed tunnel appears to be going up for public vote in August. We’ll see how a lawsuit by the…

Reading the first chapter of Peter Calthorpe’s important new book, “Urbanism in the Age of Climate Change,” I could not help but think to myself, “sounds great Peter, but how in the hell are we going to accomplish this?” I was skeptical to be sure. But given the growing nuclear disaster in Japan and this week’s feeble attempt at energy policy by President Obama, there isn’t much choice. I now believe decision-makers everywhere should consider Mr. Calthorpe’s approach. At first blush, Urbanism in the Age of Climate Change sets some audacious goals. By 2050 each American must reduce their carbon…

The Urban Land Institute’s Daniel Rose Center recently released a report entitled “Implementing Vision for Transit-Oriented Development, based on a ULI panel conducted in February 2010. The panel and report focused on development in two light rail station areas in Minneapolis, including the 38th Street station. Seeing as I live a short four-minute walk from that station, I paid particular attention. Among the recommendations from the ULI panel for the 38th Street station area are some of the usual suspects, including public improvements to the station such as a plaza or identifying element, pedestrian connections and better streetscaping in the…

The current effort in Cinncinnati to cancel its streetcar project is both unnerving and a travesty, given recent development along its route. According to a great post on Streetsblog, the project receives a top score by the state of Ohio’s Transportation Review Advisory Council. It is predictable but no less a travesty that elected officials would threaten to pull funding for a transportation project that scores well, but according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, that is exactly what is happening. More damning is the provision by Tom Patton, the Ohio Senate Transportation Committee Chair, to single out this specific rail project…

The online magazine of the Urban Land Institute this week published an article about the Cotton Belt in Dallas/Fort Worth entitled A Value-Capture Strategy for Transportation in Texas. (You have to be ULI member to read it, but I’ll tell you the premise.) The value-capture strategy in question is an effort to find alternative and creative sources of financing for the construction of the 62-mile Cotton Belt rail line, which slices across north Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) selected Scott Polikov of the Gateway Planning Group to create the Partnership for Livable Communities and…