This morning I witnessed the immediate aftermath of a pretty bad accident on Woodall Rodgers Expressway (an ironic name since traffic rarely moves on it).  Nobody looked seriously hurt (thankfully) as far as I could tell, but the children looked pretty shook up.  However, one SUV was missing a front end. The other was missing the […]

There are three articles that are worth your time.  The first is the longest and least immediately relevant locally, so maybe print it out, take it home, and read it if you’re into the low tech version.  Or save it to your pocket and read it on the train or something. First, is Rick Robinson […]

Politico, of all places, has an in-depth article on the revitalization of Des Moines, Iowa in a piece called, “How Des Moines Got Cool.”  It’s well worth your time.  If it isn’t, here are some key quotes that could apply to wherever you’re trying to revitalize: Gandelsonas’ urban planning philosophy was simple: don’t treat a […]

I don’t need Christmas presents. All I ask for is new data.  The US Census slid down my chimney with 2014 ACS data at the census block group level.  Block groups are the smallest level that the census publishes, which means I can look at city’s at a more up-to-date and granular level, neighborhood by […]

Previously Houston had a system much like DART buses with convoluted route systems that served the entire service area equally poorly. Thus, ridership suffered.  Instead, they focused on route efficiency, prioritizing corridors with high potential for ridership (high levels of origins and destinations), and increased frequency to improve reliability that you wouldn't be standing for an hour waiting for the next bus and improved travel speeds to get you to your destination.  The market is responding.  And because it is responding so strongly, I have to imagine this will lead to bumps in real estate value along some of these frequent bus corridors. And they did it without a change to the operating budget, which means service levels of certain areas dropped.  Such is the trade-off when acknowledging the inherent hierarchical nature of transit.  All areas and all people can't be served equally.  And the effort to do so undermines the overall service level and, in turn, ridership.

You might be surprised to hear me say it (read me write it), but LA has some of the smartest thinking and political leadership in the country right now regarding how they’re changing courses to build a leading 21st city.  You can’t see it now, but when thinking about urban planning, you have to think […]

The problem with #EndTheStreak, like most non-reforms is that it aims too low and isn’t about altering policy.  The hashtag to end the streak of at least one Texan being killed on Texan roads every single day for the last billion days, is that it is impotent and no different from every other effort to […]

I had the good fortune of being invited to a meeting with Chris Leinberger who was stopping through town on his way to Mexico City.  Leinberger keynoted CNU23 here in Dallas where he showed off his recent Walk-Up Wake Up Call study of the Boston metro area.  The study examines all of the walkable places […]

Last night, Monte Anderson and I gave the 2nd in a series of classes at the Dallas Institute.  I’ll be posting the slide show of my presentation shortly, but first I wanted to share the video that Monte made in collaboration with others about ten years ago.  He showed it last night.  It was the […]

Plano has won a national award for best neighborhood.  No, not the entire 70+ square miles of the entire municipality, as apparently sometimes gets confused for a neighborhood.  Neighborhoods should be about a square mile, be a great place to live, and provide convenient access to all of your daily needs within a feasible walk […]