I think there will forever be a fight between those who argue over what sprawl is and isn’t. Even now the debate rages on in New Urbanist circles and other professional forums. In my personal opinion it doesn’t have to do necessarily with street design or the compactness of development but the degree to which

This week we’re Han Solo, but we talk about trends in state preemption, state capacity and road project costs, the possible death of the North Star commuter rail line, and how utility companies in California can’t cry takings when transit projects ask them to move equipment. Links to the items we chatted about below the

This week on the Talking Headways podcast Yonah Freemark of the Urban Institute is back again for Part 2 of our annual discussion. This week we make predictions! We look at what we predicted last year and what might happen in 2025. To listen to this episode (or Part 1) visit Streetsblog USA or the

I’m seeing a few talking point trends on transportation funding in the next transportation bill reauthorization that are a bit concerning. First while many of us were focused on the birth rate/marriage rate funding discussion, there was another section piece in those initial memos that stood out to me that might be easier to slip

After all these years of light rail boosterism I can’t believe I’m saying this but Fort Worth really should hold off on planning what is basically a streetcar, light rail, even BRT network at the moment. Construction of a new network, with three corridors similar to 2010 plans is expected to take a decade and

This week we’re joined once again by Yonah Freemark of the Urban Institute to discuss his annual transit project updates at Transit Explorer. In Part 1, we talk about housing strategies for properties near transit, exciting transit openings in 2025, and which cities could use a subway project. We also talk about government deference to

While companies and the current administration in the United States are doing everything in their power to avoid hard decisions and continue with business as usual, cities and governments in other countries are stepping up on reducing the impacts of climate change and health damaging emissions. Recently, the American Association of Railroads put out a

Cracks are starting to show in the municipal bond market as it pertains to climate change. Previously these markets seemed like they weren’t paying attention, but the Los Angeles area fires seemed to have changed that calculus. Previous disasters led to write downs because of a loss of property tax revenue due to damage, but

This week on the Talking Headways podcast we’re joined by Yoni Appelbaum to discuss his book Stuck: How the Privileged and the Propertied Broke the Engine of American Opportunity. We talk about the history of moving in the US and how the different traditions of land ownership and management in the US evolved. We also

The Trump administration has been firing federal employees and seeking out payment ledgers to stop funding for certain programs, which is likely illegal because Congress is supposed to do that legislatively. But I want to tie together a few things about these impoundments and staff cuts I think are important for you all as folks