#bikeability

[cnu-newurbanism]

Feds release plan for compact communities to counter climate change

Read the official CNU media release here.

The US government on Tuesday released a groundbreaking Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization that fully recognizes the critical role of compact, complete communities in reducing carbon emissions and addressing the nation’s climate issues. No federal plan has made that connection, to this extent, before—opening the door for a national strategy that effectively involves states and cities, dealing with how communities are physically planned, to move the needle on climate change. 

The Blueprint has far-reaching implications for street design, zoning, transit-oriented development, and the planning of compact, connected communities.

Although the report does not say so directly, it’s goals and language tend to support policies that will enable suburban retrofit and more interconnected street networks. The nation needs to “Increase convenience by supporting community design and land-use planning at the local and regional levels that ensure that job centers, shopping, schools, entertainment, and essential services are strategically located near where people live to reduce commute burdens, improve walkability and bikeability, and improve quality of life,” the Blueprint states. In order to meet that goal, America’s spread-out, disconnected, single-use suburbs (and cities), need to be redesigned to allow for more connections, access, and diversity.

Read more.

#climate change #transportation #streets #new urbanism #urban design #urbanism #walkability #bikeability #national government #blueprint #quality of life #suburban #retrofit #street networks #cities

[udgeyjudge]

just biked somewhere in my town for the first time here's my bikeability review

not enough bike paths. had to ride on the pavement at least half the time (im not riding on the road fuck off), which was wide and smooth enough to accommodate bikes but it was mixed with pedestrians

the bike paths I did get to use are smooth and somewhat wide, but they weren't consistent or interconnected, and people kept walking on them

no bicycle parking! I didn't notice any at all throughout the whole journey! had to park at fences and traffic sign poles

overall 6/10, this town is decently walkable and that means it's automatically a little bit bikeable, and the occasional bike path moves it up to "somewhat bikeable", but it's really not great. needs more bike paths, more consistency, and bicycle parking

#walkability #bikeability #urbanism

[thebereatorch]

Travel Chronicle: From Berea to Lexington (Almost!)

By Ülvi Gitaliyev Thanksgiving is a special time for most students at Berea College. People get to see their family again, eat good food and leave the Berea bubble, if only for a little. For international students and domestics who come from far away states, options are more limited. We can either tag along to a friend or partner’s Thanksgiving or hunker down in Berea and survive the boredom.…

View On WordPress

#berea #berea college #Berea SGA #Berea Torch #Bikeability #Walking #Walking in Kentucky

[todays-xkcd]

If they're going to make people ride bikes and scooters in traffic, then it should at LEAST be legal to do the Snow Crash thing where you use a hook-shot-style harpoon to catch free rides from cars.

Urban Planning Opinion Progression [Explained]

Transcript Under the Cut

Typical urban planning opinion progression [Each panel is connected to a point on a timeline]

Cueball: I wish there wasn't so much traffic to get into the city. They should put in more lanes. Megan: And more parking. Megan: Parking is so bad here.

Knit Cap: I have to go to Amsterdam for work next week. I hear they all ride bikes there. Ponytail: Bikes are fine but people shouldn't ride them in the street! I worry I'm going to hit someone!

Cueball: It would be nice if we had better transit options! Cueball: I tried a scooter. It was fun but I wish there were more bike paths.

Megan: It's funny how widening roads to speed up traffic makes them more dangerous to walk near, making driving more necessary and creating more traffic. Megan: Really makes you think.

Knit Cap: Visiting the Netherlands was cool! Knit Cap: Amsterdam is really neat.

Cueball: We've ceded so much of our land to storing and moving cars, with the rest of us tiptoeing around the edges and making drivers mad for trespassing on "their" space. Cueball: Even though we're the ones in danger from them!

Megan: Those giant trucks with front blind spots that keep hitting kids should be illegal.

Knit Cap: We should be more like the Netherlands. Knit Cap: They design their street to prioritize...

Cueball: The problem is car culture. It's systemic. Cueball: I don't know if we can fix it.

Megan: People approach road planning decisions from the point of view of drivers because that's how we're used to interacting with the city, so we make choices that make it more car-friendly. Megan: It's a vicious cycle.

Knit Cap: Netherlands! Netherlands! Netherlands! Netherlands!

Cueball: Anything that makes a city a worse place to drive in makes it a better place to live, short of scattering random tire spikes on the road.

Megan: Honestly, I think the city council should consider the tire spikes thing.

#xkcd #xkcd 2832 #urban planning opinion progression #webcomics #urban planning #transport #car transport #walkable cities #bikeable cities #cars

[whytheyride]

Why They Ride - Dom

Who are you and what do you do (when you’re not on the bike!)

Dom Spitzer-Wong. I live in Birmingham and I'm a Disability and Active Travel/Cycling advocate. Currently I am a full time bicycle mechanic for The Bike Project.

What drives you to get on your bike? Is it your commute, your sport, your passion… or something else?

I've been getting myself about almost exclusively on two wheels since the age of 6. When I hit my late 20's, after 11 years in the music industry, I suffered a breakdown and needed a career change. I came to reflect that the one constant in my life, and greatest benefit to my mental health, had always been cycling, both for utility and leisure.

In 2006 I was encouraged to train as a cycling instructor and since then I've been lucky to be able to share my love for cycling as my job. Over the past 16 years I've specialised in disability cycling, including being a volunteer tandem pilot for British Paracycling. I've also taught Bikeability in Primary and Secondary schools, basic maintenance classes and Safer Urban Driving to professional drivers.

By far the best part of my work has been the countless beginners, young and old, who I have helped learn to ride their bikes. It's not unfair to say my life revolves around bicycles almost exclusively, from work to holidays. So much so that I met my partner through cycling. Even at our Wedding reception we didn't have a first dance, we had a first lap.

Although change is slow in the UK I fully intend to continue championing and enjoying the benefits of cycling in the hope of a better and healthier future for everyone.

#cycling #bikeability #bikes #cycles

[the-eccentric-eclectic]

The future isn't electric cars, it's public transportation. As dr. Gupta says, lithium batteries are still very polluting, and don't exist in a large enough quantity to supply the world with enough electric cars to get everybody driving one.

The path forward that I see has well arranged public transportation in a spiderweb form rather than a wordweb. All areas connected to each other rather than all transport going to the city center. It is publicly funded through taxes so you don't have to pay every time you use the train or take a bus.

For the elderly and the disabled there are special taxis upon request. You can rent a car or a van when you really need one, electric ofc. But you have to specify the reason and if it's something dumb like 'going to the gym by car' it can get denied.

If you need a car for your job because you work in emergency services such as GP, cop, etc. you drive one from your work, which you park at your workplace at the end of your workday, after which you take public transport home. You need a special dispensation to drive a car. Your workplace needs a special dispensation to own and let you drive a car.

And imagine all the things we can do with the space that is freed up. First of all, cars actively discourage community, so neighbourhoods become a lot more social. All the extra lanes on highways that are suddenly no longer needed can be turned into strips of forests which work noise reducing. If all cars are electric and the amount driven falls by like 85% (I am pulling this statistic out of my ass, this is by no means based on any actual data) there will be significantly less noise anyway.

We can take parking spaces and turn them into pollinator gardens, community gardens, sensory gardens for children.

We can get on roads again without fear of being hit by some loser with a god complex and a tin can murder machine. We can walk, bike, convene, live.

#fuck cars #climate crisis #climate change #anolish cars #climate solutions #sustainability #walkable cities #bikeable cities #community #greencore #green future #anti car #mental health #no cars #sensory garden #greenhouse gas reduction #abolish cars

[solarpunkani]

Is the Pokemon world, as depicted in the games and anime, a solarpunk society? How much could it be considered one, or what would need to be changed before it could be considered one?

I don't know a ton about Pokemon, I'm just curious.

#pokemon #solarpunk #i dont remember if we as a community have had this conversation before or not #but I think it would be fun #They seem to have a big emphasis on walkable/bikeable communities and children seem to have a good bit of rights #but again idk much about the Pokemon world like I played Pokemon Shield I watched Detective Pikachu I watched the JaidenAnimations videos #thats about it #out of queue #ani rambles

[pinolitas]

ok I'll apply for a fucking coffee shop job 😭

#it's bikeable and bus-able but I have 0 food experience and I'm not a coffee drinker 👍🏼

[fifi-goes-to-hollywood]

Would they play any sports with their child?

I think yes! Ofc as a rather fun way, to show that it’s good to move (well, we have ex-basketball player and a gym buddy, so). So biking trips, rollerblading, simpler volleyball - you know. Just to show a fun way to move (without forcing to particular sports tho!)

#I’m projecting again bc badminton is my go-to sport and I kinda miss it #and rollerblading - haven’t had blades on my feet since ages #bear in mind biking everywhere bc LJ is walkable and bikeable #anyway I melted #otp asks #joker out #nace jordan #jan peteh

[lesamis]

So sorry if this is a sensitive question, but how do you cope with having friends, *especially* a best friend, so far away? One of my oldest friends is moving 30 minutes away by train and I already am anxious we won't be able to stay friends? I could never imagine her being two hours away. /gen

hi anon, don't worry, that's totally an okay question to ask! having become, at this point, sort of a pro at long-distance friendships isn't the most fun thing in the world, but i promise it isn't terrifying or lonely either. there are ways to combat the sense of distance, and even when you really feel it, i think some aspects of being far apart can actually make friendships more meaningful to you.

for one, there's all the obvious ways of keeping in touch: phonecalls, facetiming, texting, seeing what they're up to on social media. i think it's important to figure out what your friendship needs, because these things can vary so much. sometimes staying in touch is less about having a long weekly phonecall talking about deep stuff (although it absolutely can be that) and more about texting each other the most trivial things on a daily basis. there are friends a couple countries away whose text exchanges with me often amount to "saw a snail today, effervescent" type conversations. these things matter. it's just good to know you're on each other's minds.

then there's also... i guess i'd call it inventing new ways of being close? sometimes you rarely text, but your friend will send you a care package in the mail out of nowhere, so you know that they're thinking of you even when you don't hear from them. or someone in your friend group moves to france of all places, so when easter break comes around, you all pile into a car and drive to grenoble for eleven hours just to see him. maybe you don't see someone on their birthday, but you can order a flower delivery for them as a surprise. or you're visiting someone an hour's drive away and you get stuck talking for far too long, so they lend you some clothes and you get to have an impromptu sleepover on a weekday. there's a special kind of romanticism to reminding someone over and over that you care, even when you're far apart.

one final thing i've also learned that might sound a bit strange, but could also be important to mention: dead silence, not hearing from someone for months on end, can be absolutely fine. this has been the case for me especially with very old friends. you can be completely out of touch with someone, never hear from them at all, forget to text back for half a year, etc etc, and then you see them for the first time in ages, and it feels like you've never been apart. not being in touch doesn't always have to mean emotional distance, or a friendship growing weaker. there's a good chance that, once you've known someone for a very long time, you'll always be able to pick up right where you left off.

none of this is to minimize the scarier aspect of distance, of course; if i could snap my fingers and have all my friends living on my street, i'd do it in a heartbeat. it's special to be able to share your daily life with close friends, and i can only imagine how much it sucks to lose that. but i do think something special can be gained in that change as well! all the best to you & your friend, anon :')

#sorry for the novel! hopefully i'm not too far removed from your situation to understand it anon bc i do have to admit #i've only had friends within walkable or bikeable distance of me for super brief periods #having lived in a super remote rural area for most of my life means i've never exactly needed friends to be close by #bc it's just always been an impossibility? so i'm a firm believer in long distance friendships #but i also don't want to trivialize how much distance sucks. it does suck so much. but more often than not it sucks in like #a way that aches a little. not in a friendship-ending way #and if someone's an old friend already that sounds to me like you have a v good chance of being just fine :') #asks #anon

[cnu-newurbanism]

Great Idea 7: Tactical urbanism

The latest trend in urban design and planning gets them off of the paper and out of a big room, testing ideas in the real world. It is fun and hands-on, and making many converts. Read more.

#great ideas #new urbanism #urban design #urbanism #cities #walkability #bikeable #tactical urbanism #urban planning

[cerulean-crow]

So I got a job and I haven’t been able to draw for a hot minute- but I did get a picture of my funky cat Persephone being an absolute creature in the corner of my kitchen

I mean look at that face

There is not one thought behind those eyes

#Yeah I stock shelves for basically 8 hours a day for five days a week now #Not a bad gig I’m making money at least #I’m still waiting for them to give me a more reliable schedule of days which could take another week- #But hopefully after I get into this new groove I can better see when I can fit drawing and writing back into my week #It’s not all that bad #I’m used to being on my feet for extended periods of time from marching band #And I like stocking things #I needed something to occupy my time with #And now I’m making a decent bit of money of week! #So I’m gonna say that things are starting to work out #I still need to learn how to drive though… #How do people do it??? It is so overwhelming and it’s just not clicking #But of course I live in a suburb where nothing is walkable at or and sure as hell not bikeable so I basically need to figure out driving

[mdshamimahmed78]

Enjoy tours by luxury black car service

City Tours: Discover the charm and beauty of Texas cities with our customized city tour packages, guided by knowledgeable chauffeurs who will take you to iconic landmarks and hidden gems.

Embark on a journey of discovery with our exclusive black car service in Texas, tailored for immersive city tours that unveil the charm and beauty of the Lone Star State. Our customized tour packages are guided by knowledgeable chauffeurs who will navigate you through iconic landmarks and hidden gems, offering insightful commentary along the way. Experience the richness of Texas culture and history in unparalleled comfort and style with our premium black car service for city tours. thanks limocartx

#Car Movers Near Me #transport car #transport #walkable cities #bikeable cities #Indian Car Transport Company #Price to Transport Car by Train #Best Car Transport Companies in India #automotive #cars #Car Transportation #Car Transport #car transport #car carrier #car transporters #Car Transport Services #Car Transportation Service #Car Transport by Train #Car Transport Charges #Car Transportation Charges #Car Transport Companies #Car Transport Company #Car Transportation Services Near Me #Car Transport India #Car Transport Website #Car Transport India Cost #Car Transport by Train in India #Car Transport Near Me

[running-throughthedarkness]

i am almost 25 and am absolutely losing my shit

#i am so lost in this world #deep in it on this sunday evening #2023 #september 2023 #my job is no fun and very bad #but all the other jobs are either farther away than my current 1-hour commute #or they dont pay well or they seem like no fun or im not qualified #im totally stuck in a city and have long since realized that i really just want to live in a small bikeable town #ugh #if anyone has advice on how to survive your 20s i would gladly take it

[biketalkla]

Fix it: Brake maintenance advice from fixie rider, activist, and Los Angeles Metro Bikeshare mechanic Anne Marie Drolet.

5:36 https://on.soundcloud.com/nS5hG Consult: Jeff Speck, author of "Suburban Nation" and "Walkable Cities," on making cities walkable and bikeable. With Taylor Nichols.

40:20 https://on.soundcloud.com/45DaG Legislate: Getting the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration to mandate Bicyclist Emergency Braking in deadly autonomous vehicles. With Ken McLeod, Policy Director of League of American Bicyclists, interviewed by Taylor Nichols.

#BikeTalk #Jeffspeck #walkable #bikeable #liveable

[garbage-empress]

you want your city to be walkable and bikeable? what's next? suckable? fuckable?