Prioritizing public health: The Seattle City Council has passed legislation memorializing the spending of proceeds for the citywide sweetened beverage tax.
Yelp says a lot: Yelp reviews of local restaurants can tell you a lot about a city.
Bureaucratic obstructionism: Sightline makes the case for eliminating the Oregon state senate, which is entirely redundant to the lower house.
A gentrifying city: According to recent data, Seattle is America’s third most gentrifying city ($).
Madrid’s car ban: After massive public protests, the right-wing city administration in Madrid may be poised to scrap plans to eliminate popular area-specific car bans in the city.
Grand plans: The Everett Station area could get a business improvement district ($) if property owners buy into a neighborhood vision.
Missing the forest: Atlanta wants to build a very cool pedestrian bridge, but it would sop up most city funding for pedestrian safety programs to do it.
Building reliability: Leaders in Los Angeles want to reverse declines in transit ridership by speeding up buses across the region, implementing service changes, and allowing all-door entry.
Going Dutch: The Seattle Times reports that Seattle could end up trying out a Dutch-style intersection for bikes ($).
Vision Zero America?: New York City mayor and presidential candidate Bill De Blasio has made a national pitch for Vision Zero.
Caltrain’s LRP: The Bay Area’s Caltrain now has an ambitious long-range plan for service to triple ridership over the next 20 years.
Houston’s disastrous plan: Streetsblog looks at the environmental justice disaster of a planned Houston mega-highway expansion project.
NYP to WAS: This fall, Amtrak will begin operating nonstop service between New York City and Washington, D.C.
Run of the mill: CityLab explains what everyday architecture deserves appreciation.
Funding biking: Under a proposed federal bill, bikeshare programs across the nation could get a big funding boost.
Map of the Week: What spatial effects did the 1960s freeway revolts have?
Stephen is a professional urban planner in Puget Sound with a passion for sustainable, livable, and diverse cities. He is especially interested in how policies, regulations, and programs can promote positive outcomes for communities. With stints in great cities like Bellingham and Cork, Stephen currently lives in Seattle. He primarily covers land use and transportation issues and has been with The Urbanist since 2014.