Category Archives: Alternative transportation

World’s tallest vertical ‘urban’ transport elevators

Posted on April 6, 2020 by

CORRECTION (4/6/2020): After posting this article it became apparent that it should have been limited to above ground elevators, as there are a number of underground ones in transit stations around the world. As a result, the underground elevators that … Continue reading →

Posted in Active transportation, Alternative transportation, architecture, bicycling, Biking, cities, commerce, fun, futurism, geography, hiking, historic preservation, history, infrastructure, land use, logistics, placemaking, planning, skylines, spatial design, Statistics, topography, tourism, traffic, transit, transportation, Travel, urban planning, walking | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Environmental/health benefits of street sweeping/cleaning

Posted on March 19, 2020 by

  This past Monday afternoon, Traverse City’s street sweeping/cleaning crew came down our street and swept/cleaned it. Two machines were utilized during the operation – one an Elgin and the other a Global. They removed most of the dirt, grit, … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, Alternative transportation, bicycling, Biking, Cars, cities, civics, climate change, commerce, ecosystems, environment, geography, government, health, hiking, humanity, infrastructure, nature, Pets, placemaking, planning, pollution, recreation, rivers/watersheds, spatial design, sustainability, transportation, urban planning, walking | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Ten Planning Lessons from Pittsburgh

Posted on February 19, 2020 by

An aging industrial city can successfully reinvent itself; but despite doing so, Pittsburgh continues to face the challenge of population decline. As the photo above indicates, pedestrian access to the waterfront from the downtown triangle is too often hindered by … Continue reading →

Posted in Active transportation, adaptive reuse, Alternative transportation, architecture, Cars, cities, civics, culture, demographics, downtown, economic development, geography, historic preservation, history, infrastructure, land use, new urbanism, placemaking, planning, pollution, revitalization, skylines, skyscrapers, spatial design, topography, tourism, traffic, transit, transportation, Urban Gondolas, urban planning, walking | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A BOLD transit-oriented development plan

Posted on January 17, 2020 by

There are transit-oriented developments and then there are BOLD transit-oriented developments. Here is Traverse City, we are fortunate to have a transit agency with a bold vision for a better tomorrow – the Bay Area Transportation Authority or BATA. Being … Continue reading →

Posted in Active transportation, Advocacy, Alternative transportation, Bus transportation, cities, climate change, economic development, environment, government, health, Housing, infrastructure, land use, new urbanism, placemaking, planning, social equity, spatial design, sustainability, transit, transportation, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ten Planning Lessons from Albuquerque

Posted on September 18, 2019 by

We have been enjoying an awesome trip to New Mexico. This post about Albuquerque is the first of several that will be written about the state, is residents, and its communities. Paz! The preservation and protection of the original 1706 … Continue reading →

Posted in Active transportation, adaptive reuse, Advocacy, air travel, airport planning, airports, Alternative transportation, architecture, aviation, bicycling, bike sharing, Biking, Bus transportation, cities, civics, colleges, commerce, Cuisine, culture, density, diversity, downtown, economic development, entertainment, fun, geography, hiking, historic preservation, history, Housing, inclusiveness, infrastructure, land use, new urbanism, Passenger rail, placemaking, planning, rail, Railroads, spatial design, sprawl, third places, tourism, transit, transportation, Travel, urban planning, walking, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ten Planning Lessons from Orlando/Winter Park

Posted on September 3, 2019 by

In terms of diversity and inclusiveness, the Orlando region of today is much improved compared to the Orlando of 50 years ago. Unlike much of the Orlando area, Winter Park has successfully maintained/employed new urbanism, walkability, and traffic calming techniques … Continue reading →

Posted in adaptive reuse, air travel, airport planning, airports, Alternative transportation, architecture, art, Cars, cities, civics, Civil Rights, civility, commerce, culture, downtown, economic development, entertainment, geography, government, historic preservation, history, human rights, inclusiveness, land use, Maps, new urbanism, pictures, placemaking, planning, skylines, social equity, spatial design, sprawl, third places, tourism, traffic, transportation, Travel, urban planning, walking, weather | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ten+ Planning Lessons from Page, Arizona

Posted on July 1, 2019 by

Some might be wondering where the heck Page, Arizona is located and secondly, how could a town founded in 1957 offer up any planning advice. Well, Page sits close to the Arizona-Utah border where the Glen Canyon Dam was constructed … Continue reading →

Posted in Active transportation, Alternative transportation, archaeology, architecture, bicycling, cities, civics, commerce, culture, deserts, diversity, downtown, economic development, economic gardening, entertainment, environment, geography, Geology, government, health, historic preservation, history, infrastructure, land use, Native Americans, nature, placemaking, planning, spatial design, sprawl, topography, tourism, transportation, Travel, zoning | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Front Grills That Can Kill

Posted on August 24, 2018 by

A sadly growing trend in American transportation has been an increase in pedestrian and bicyclist deaths. There are several reasons for this, but one that is not mentioned as often as it should be is the increased size and altered … Continue reading →

Posted in Active transportation, Advocacy, Alternative transportation, bicycling, Biking, cities, civics, consumerism, deregulation, government, health, Health care, hiking, history, human rights, humanity, planning, politics, recreation, Statistics, transportation, walking | Tagged | Leave a comment

The South Shore Line – Indiana’s Gift to Passenger Rail

Posted on May 15, 2018 by

We had the honor and thrill of riding the entire length of the South Shore Line round trip between South Bend (Airport Station) and Chicago (Millennium Station) and back over Mother’s Day weekend. Sometimes dubbed as America’s last Interurban, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Active transportation, Alternative transportation, cities, electric vehicles, fun, geography, history, infrastructure, land use, Maps, Passenger rail, placemaking, planning, rail, Railroads, spatial design, transit, transportation, Travel, urban planning | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Planning lessons from Tucson

Posted on February 25, 2018 by

My wife and I just returned home from an amazing week in gorgeous Tucson, Arizona. Unlike many places visited, it was easy to come up with many more than ten planning lessons from this beautiful desert oasis. While we adore … Continue reading →

Posted in Active transportation, adaptive reuse, Advocacy, Alternative transportation, archaeology, architecture, art, bicycling, bike sharing, Biking, Cities, civics, colleges, Cuisine, culture, diversity, economic development, economic gardening, entertainment, entrepreneurship, environment, fitness, Food, food systems, fun, geography, health, hiking, historic preservation, history, inclusiveness, infrastructure, land use, nature, pictures, placemaking, planning, recreation, spatial design, sprawl, third places, topography, tourism, transportation, Travel, urban planning, visual pollution, walking, Wildlife, zoning | Tagged , , | Leave a comment