-Fortune Magazine, 1958: Downtown is for People
-WSJ: The Hidden Toll of Traffic Jams
Children in areas affected by high levels of emissions, on average, scored more poorly on intelligence tests and were more prone to depression, anxiety and attention problems than children growing up in cleaner air, separate research teams in New York, Boston, Beijing, and Krakow, Poland, found. And older men and women long exposed to higher levels of traffic-related particles and ozone had memory and reasoning problems that effectively added five years to their mental age, other university researchers in Boston reported this year. The emissions may also heighten the risk of Alzheimer's disease and speed the effects of Parkinson's disease.
-Steve Miller: Complete Streets As An Economic Development Strategy: The Green Beyond The Paint
-RecyclingToday: BHS Installs Solid Waste Processing System in Northern Michigan
-DetNews: Michigan wineries toast bumper crop
-CreativeClass: Bicycling and the Wealth and Happiness of Cities
-Grist: Why small cities are poised for success in an oil-starved future
-DetNews: Fishing for a living in Detroit
In less than a lifetime, the Great Lakes were depleted to the point where commercial fishing was no longer viable.
On a positive note, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service discovered spawning lake whitefish and fertilized whitefish eggs in the Detroit River in the fall of 2006, the first documented spawning of the fish in the river since 1916.
-NYT: In the Shadow of Grand Resorts, a Town Hill Struggles
-Petoskey News: The mystery of the Elk Lake lake trout
The trout, like their century-old counterpart, spawn in more than 100 feet of water -- indicating that these trout are one of the deepwater forms that used to exist in Lake Michigan.-Freep: More Michigan voyages ahead; 13 cruises to visit new Detroit dock
[notice that Traverse City is NOT a destination]
-Atlantic Cities: The Opera House Effect
-MedicalXPress: Study shows medical marijuana laws reduce traffic deaths
"Our research suggests that the legalization of medical marijuana reduces traffic fatalities through reducing alcohol consumption by young adults,"-Michigan River News: Great Lakes salmon polluting Michigan’s stream fish
[this is why the Union St dam on the Boardman is being left in place]
-CT Mirror: Economic value of state's parks is more than $1 billion
[the state of Connecticut could fit into NW lower MI]
-M2: Why a Democracy Needs Uninformed People
-GCC: MIT researchers developing algorithms to predict more accurately which cars are likeliest to run red lights
-TheAtlantic: New Yorkers Now Live 2.4 Years Longer Than Other Americans
-Grist: The next small thing: How sustainable neighborhoods could reshape cities
-MLive: Michigan resumes stocking Atlantic salmon in Torch Lake
-NationalPost: Taking a u-turn on the one-way street
Two years ago, city crews went to St. Paul Street — the one-way spine of downtown St. Catharines, Ont. — took down the “no entry” signs, painted new lines and opened up the street to two-way traffic. According to planners, it would slow cars down, make the downtown more pedestrian friendly and spur retail development.
People, especially businesspeople, didn’t like it. And then they did.
-Atlantic Cities: The Case for Congestion
-Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland: Urban Growth and Decline: The Role of Population Density at the City Core
We look at four decades of census data and show that growing cities have maintained dense urban centers, while shrinking cities have not. There are reasons to think that loss of population density at the core of the city could be particularly damaging to productivity. If this is the case, there could be productivity gains from policies aimed at reversing that trend.
-Mlive: Owasippe an 'epic' destination? Mountain bikers say yes
-AAA: AAA Study Finds Costs Associated With Traffic Crashes Are More than Three Times Greater than Congestion Costs
-Cleveland.com: With apartments full, developers look for new rental opportunities in downtown Cleveland
With apartments nearly full and waiting lists piling up, a sense of rental euphoria has fallen over downtown Cleveland...
Young professionals... are driving the downtown market. So are students, empty nesters and people moving from other cities.
-Atlantic Cities: Why Portland's Public Toilets Succeeded Where Others Failed
-CNNMoney: Tony Hsieh's new $350 million startup-The Zappos CEO is trading shoes for urban planning -- and spending big bucks to rebuild downtown Las Vegas.
-NYT: The Death of the Fringe Suburb
Simply put, there has been a profound structural shift — a reversal of what took place in the 1950s, when drivable suburbs boomed and flourished as center cities emptied and withered.
The shift is durable and lasting because of a major demographic event: the convergence of the two largest generations in American history, the baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) and the millennials (born between 1979 and 1996), which today represent half of the total population.
Many boomers are now empty nesters and approaching retirement. Generally this means that they will downsize their housing in the near future. Boomers want to live in a walkable urban downtown, a suburban town center or a small town, according to a recent survey by the National Association of Realtors.
The millennials are just now beginning to emerge from the nest — at least those who can afford to live on their own. This coming-of-age cohort also favors urban downtowns and suburban town centers — for lifestyle reasons and the convenience of not having to own cars.
-LAMag: Between the Lines [longread about the history of parking lots in LA; congestion pricing for parking and turning over parking meter money to the owner of the lot next to the space]
Shoup is not opposed to all parking lots; he’s against cities requiring parking lots. “Would you require every home to come with a pool or every office to include a dining room because someone might want it?” asks Shoup. “Why not let developers build parking where the market demands it and charge its true value?”
-NewGeography: The Driving Decline
[discussion of possible reasons for the 5 yr decline in total miles driven in the United States]
-The European: Cities Are Making Us More Human: Interview with Edward Glaeser
The European: As an economist, you have a very pragmatic approach to cities. Let’s begin with one of your thoughts: Cities help preserve the environment precisely because they keep people away from it.
Glaeser: That is right. It is somewhat counterintuitive but all that is leafy is not necessarily green – living around trees and living in low density areas may end being actually quite harmful for the environment, whereas living in high-rise buildings and urban core may end up being quite kind to the environment.
-GearJunkie: Longest 'Urban' Mt. Bike Trail in USA
Duluth mayor Don Ness has ambitions to make Duluth “the premier trail city in North America.” The Duluth Traverse, which is being touted as the longest urban singletrack trail system in the nation, is a key part in the vision alongside new paths and trails for hiking and XC skiing.
-AdventureCycling: Becoming Bike Travel Friendly: Minneapolis Case Study
-M2: Traffic Solution: Make Drivers Less Lonely
