Providence Ride of Silence - May 18, 2011

The Ride of Silence will take place in Providence, an in 200 cities world-wide, on Wednesday, May 18, 2011, to honor those injured or killed while cycling on public roadways, including, recently, members of the greater Providence community.

The event has no sponsors and no registration fees. It asks its cyclists to ride no faster than 12 mph and remain silent during the ride. All cyclists will be required to wear helmets, follow traffic laws, and use hand signals, aiming to raise awareness about the important of cycling safety and sharing the road.

Cyclists will gather at 6:15 on the Front Green at Brown University, at the corner of Prospect Street and Waterman Street. The ride, which will be 8 miles long, will begin at 7:00 p.m., with a reception to follow in the Multipurpose Room of the Stephen Robert Campus Center on the Main Green at Brown.

"Who Bikes?" & other new reports on smarter streets and livable neighborhoods

These reports can help us create a healthier Providence region.

April 2011
New study by National Association of Realtors finds homebuyers overwhelmingly want smart growth amenities & walkable neighborhoods
http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/2011/04/04/new-study-by-national-association-of-realtors-finds-consumers-want-smart-growth-amenities/

New Neighborhood Traffic Monitoring Toolkit Can Get You Started on Street Safety Activism
http://www.streetsblog.org/2011/03/31/new-traffic-monitoring-toolkit-can-get-you-started-on-street-safety-activism/

New Tactical Urbanism Guide
"Improving the livability of our towns and cities commonly starts at the street, block, or building scale. While larger scale efforts do have their place, incremental, small scale improvements are increasingly seen as a way to stage more substantial investments."
http://www.ctdatahaven.org/know/index.php/File:Tactical_Urbanism_Guide_2011_sml.pdf

March 2011
New demographic analysis shows that "contrary to popular convention, the biggest share of bicyclists isn't yuppies, it's low income people. In fact, the lowest-earning quarter of Americans make nearly one-third of all bike trips."
http://rss.sightline.org/daily_score/archive/2011/04/04/who-bikes?

From "Analysis of Bicycling Trends and Policies in Large North American Cities," a new report out by the University Transportation Research Center.
http://www.utrc2.org/research/assets/176/Analysis-Bike-Final1.pdf

Op-ED: This is Our Sputnik Moment for Infrastructure and Smart Growth

An analysis of President Obama's State of the Union address from one of the top national advocates of smart growth and sustainable city planning: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/geoffrey-anderson/a-sputnik-moment-for-smar_b_814541.html

Excerpt:

The President's statement means we have to continue to expand our infrastructure and communities with an understanding of how the two connect and support one another, and that's exactly what smart growth does. The big national decisions we make about budgets and investment can ultimately make life better in the towns and neighborhoods that knit this nation together.

Smart growth is about building neighborhoods that work for the people who live there -- meaning rural, suburban and urban communities with more housing and transportation choices near jobs, shops and schools where people want them. These are places where strong economies and a healthy environment can both thrive at once. Places where community leaders choose to get the most out of each federal or state dollar invested in the neighborhoods. Where the private sector can help jump-start the local real estate market in a way that is right for that unique community. Where we make decisions to save money in our municipal budgets and in our own wallets and invest for the future.

Social Benefits of Walkability: Walking and Biking Neighborhoods are Happier!

From Treehugger: The study, titled "Examining Walkability and Social Capital as Indicators of Quality of Life at the Municipal and Neighborhood Scales," was led by Shannon Rogers, a Ph.D. candidate in UNH's Natural Resources and Earth System Science (NRESS) program. It involved a survey of 700 residents of twenty neighborhoods in Portsmouth and Manchester, NH. Respondents answered questions on the walkability of their neighborhood and on their social capital. A UNH press release explained the results:

"Those living in more walkable neighborhoods trusted their neighbors more; participated in community projects, clubs and volunteering more; and described television as their major form of entertainment less than survey participants living in less walkable neighborhoods."

Urbanism Links from MarketUrbanism.com

Great selection of recent links about cities and urbanism:

1. The WSJ claims that delinquent homeowners can expect to stay in their homes after making their last mortgage payment – that is, they can live rent-free – for at least 16 months. The longer it takes for foreclosures to happen, the longer it will take for real estate markets to adjust to the new paradigm.

2. Fascinating article about food trucks in Houston. In it I found a second example of bad anti-terrorism policy trumping good urbanism:

The article also confirms my suspicion that food trucks may actually be safer than restaurants: “These are essentially open kitchens…you can look in there and see exactly what these guys are doing, where they’re grabbing the food from, how they’re cooking it.”

3. Hong Kong and Singapore are both instituting controls on their residential property markets to avoid bubbles, but they are also freeing government land for developers (in spite of Singapore’s free market reputation, most residents apparently live in public housing). Some speculate that Hong Kong’s controls might be a sign of increasing control from Beijing. Reuters says that “China, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Malaysia have also unveiled more stringent regulations in recent months” – the bubble that led to the 1997 financial crisis had a large property component. The Beijing Communist Party mouthpiece, apparently fearing that investors have too much faith in the local government, blames the city’s high rents on prostitutes.

4. Cap’n Transit on road subsidies. These sorts of debates often frustrate me because I feel like people are not clear as to which roads they’re talking about (federal, state, local?).

5. Al Gore admits that first-generation ethanol was a mistake and he only supported it because of “a certain fondness for the farmers in the state of Iowa” (yes, he really said that). But talk is cheap – he’s still sticking by non-food biofuels, though I think those’re just as bad. On the bright side, though, DeMint and Tom Coburn are apparently ready to let some key ethanol subsidies lapse this year.

6. DC developer forced to offer below-market rents to an IHOP. You know what would really help “small, local, minority-owned businesses”? Eliminating mandates like this that lead to constrained property markets and sky-high rents.

7. Remember that god-awful North Jersey mall project Xanadu, whose demise prompted an item in the last link list? Well apparently Chris Christie wants to throw more money down that hole. Speaking of which: Did they really not realize the negative associations people have with the name “Xanadu”? Or is that just evidence that not even the person who named it had any faith in it?

8. Real estate investors are bidding up prices for apartment buildings, says the NYT. Hopefully the increase in prices will convince local officials to zone for more multifamily development.

Shootings, Armed Muggings beset Harvard Campus in Cambridge

Careful when biking up there...

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2010/11/14/officer-harvard-suspect-cpd/

One of the victims, who asked to remain anonymous, said that he and his friends were on their way to purchase food when the suspect approached them and held them at gunpoint.

This incident was the sixth armed robbery on or close to the Harvard campus in two weeks and the third that involved Harvard affiliates. Following the armed robbery of a non-Harvard affiliate on Thursday morning at 2:45 a.m., HUPD added additional officers on patrol and "increased visibility" in and around the Yard, according to a community advisory that HUPD sent to Harvard affiliates yesterday afternoon.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2010/11/19/robberies-police-harvard-two/

Two robberies took place on campus—in addition to the Yard robbery, the Harvard University Employee Credit Union was quietly robbed by an unarmed white male on Oct. 30.

The other six robberies all occurred within one block of Harvard property, stretching from the Quad to the Divinity School. Two of them were very close to the Harvard Square T stop.

Two Mile Streetcar Route in Providence?

What impact would this have on bicycling? Can streetcars safely be combined with bicycles?

http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2010/11/17/ri_transit_agency_picking_route_to_link_commuters/

Only Profitable Public Transit: Bikesharing

Bike Hartford has a post on the London cycle share system.

Unacceptable: Buffalo, NY driver gets slap on the wrist for running red light, failing to yield to crosswalk, killing popular school teacher

http://www.bikebuffalo.com/2010/10/buffalo-driver-gets-slap-on-wrist-for.html

Top Design Ideas of 2009: Bicycle Highways

Very cool. Bicycle highways and banning cul-de-sacs = top ideas of the year: http://www.nytimes.com/projects/magazine/ideas/2009/#design

Removing a Barrier in Providence: Will I-195 Removal Help Bike/Ped Access or Create Jobs??

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/realestate/commercial/11iway.html

Out of the billion or so being spent on this enormous highway construction project, how much will go towards improving conditions for pedestrians and cyclists in the city?

What percentage of the funding will be used to hire local and minority Providence workers, who currently face "real" unemployment levels of close to 50%?

Looking for Urban Bike Advocates on Twitter

Know anyone into bicycle and pedestrian advocacy on Twitter, particularly advocacy focused on cities? Interesting Tweet here. Suggest a few!

Please RT @urbandata/urban-bike-advocacy Need to #follow more urban bike advocates! Can't get enough! #bikenyc @bcgp

Trucks at 40MPH in Countryside School Zone in Newton, Massachusetts

"Every morning, trucks speed through the school zone at 40mph when kids are arriving at 8:20am."

http://www.seeclickfix.com/issues/9398

Is this a problem in any school zones in Providence?