Can sprawl be blamed for the economic crisis?

Apparently Chris Leinberger thinks so. I think there is certainly a case to be made connecting the policies that created and encouraged more sprawl -- access to easy credit with little money down, ARMs, easily available home equity loans, cheap gas, the mortage interest deduction, among others -- that ultimately resulted in the housing boom and bust. Essentially, the ingredients that helped to fuel suburban and exurban sprawl were also factors in the current economic meltdown. I don't think it is too much of a stretch to state, as does Leinberger, that sprawl helped to created this mess.

The Walkable City

I've seen a few mentions over the last few weeks of Mary Soderstrom's new book The Walkable City. This article in The Torontoist includes a comprehensive review. It appears that Soderstrom dedicates much of the book to using examples from Toronoto a la Jane Jacobs using Greenwich Village in The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Although I have never been to Toronto, I look forward to picking up a copy of The Walkable City and learning more.

We're back

After several weeks that took us away from this site, primarily due to real work, we'll be back posting several items this week. Hopefully that vacation from this site is a one-time event.

National Park(ing) Day

Today is National Park(ing) Day across the country, with more than 80 cities transforming public parking spaces into small urban parks. See if your city is participating, and push for more public spaces in your community.

Atlanta's Inman Park a model of transforming a former industrial area to a walkable neighborhood

Several projects in and around Inman Park were transformed from industrial use to a mix of walkable residential, retail and office. The area seems to be home to the newest, best restaurants in town and continues to see more and more residents locating there. This is a great example of changing an outdated use to a vibrant, economically-healthy area. Nice article in the AJC.

Now this is alternative commuting

You've heard of biking to work and walking to work, but how about essentially running a marathon to work? And then back home later that day.

"Mingles" and "jingles" moving back to the city

Can't say I've heard these terms before, but here's another article describing the growing demographic shift from suburban to urban living.

What makes these shifts special, notes Ehrenhalt, is their signal that "an
America that seemed destined for ever-increasing individualization and sprawl is
experimenting with new versions of community and sociability."