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Tag Archives: walking

Will Bicyclists and Pedestrians Squeeze Out Cars?

Tom Madigan, writing for National Journal, asks 10 experts if efforts to accommodate bicyclists and pedestrians risks squeezing out cars. On first blush, considering the overwhelming odds in favor of cars (numbers plus massive subsidies), the question seems absurd. Read the whole thing. Very interesting. Several of the respondents do not like the question because, for example, the situation [...]

Posted 05 August 2010 † Andy Cline § ecology § news § policy ‡ Comments (2) ° Also tagged: , , , , ,

Crossing The Line

Thanks to a heads-up from James Baumgartner, author of Car-free in PVD, check out this Blueprint America Special Report called Crossing the Line: Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know. This is what happens when you design roads for cars instead of people. Also see the discussion at Commute Orlando. Technorati Tags: car culture, pedestrian [...]

Posted 29 July 2010 † Andy Cline § ecology § policy ‡ Comments (8) ° Also tagged: ,

Apocalypse Someday, Maybe

Thomas Friedman highlights the following letter to the editor in his column today: “I’d like to join in on the blame game that has come to define our national approach to the ongoing environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. This isn’t BP’s or Transocean’s fault. It’s not the government’s fault. It’s my fault. I’m [...]

Posted 13 June 2010 † Andy Cline § advocacy § ecology ‡ Comments (2) ° Also tagged: , , , , , ,

Creating Connections With ‘The Link’

I’ve mentioned the coming improvements to the Springfield bicycle route system that will be paid for with the CIP tax. The improvements include route number signs and sharrows. The City also has plans for a new project called The Link — an exciting plan to link existing and new greenway trails into a coherent transportation [...]

Posted 11 June 2010 † Andy Cline § advocacy § news § policy ‡ Comments (2) ° Also tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

Built For Cars, Not People

American suburbs were built for cars during a time in which it seemed oil would shoot from the ground forever. And once we knew that such was not the case, we kept building suburbs because people wanted to live in them. People were also encouraged to do so by the culture and the government. I [...]

Posted 26 May 2010 † Andy Cline § advocacy § ecology § policy ‡ Comments (3) ° Also tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

Our Urban Challenge: Build It First

I swear I’m not making this up. The following is a snippet of conversation I heard at the Mudshouse. The interlocutors were high school kids: Kid 1: “There’s just too much sprawl here.” Kid 2: “Yeah, not enough density.” Kid 3: “It doesn’t matter. We’re not going to live here anyway.” How do we make [...]

Posted 16 May 2010 † Andy Cline § advocacy § ecology § policy ‡ Comments Off ° Also tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

On Not Getting Wet

So it’s raining like crazy this morning. Dark. Thunder. Lightening. The streets are babbling brooks. Just awful. So I decide to walk instead of ride. I think cars change who we are. We sometimes do things behind the wheel of a car that we would not think of doing face to face. A car provides [...]

Posted 14 May 2010 † Andy Cline § ecology ‡ Comments Off ° Also tagged:

Cars: Fewer v. Better

From David Roberts at Grist (extra links added to quote): On one side, you have people like Scott Bernstein of the Center for Neighborhood Technology, Geoff Anderson of Smart Growth America, or Tom Murphy of the Urban Land Institute, who are focused on using land and urban assets more effectively, which means increasing density and [...]

Posted 13 May 2010 † Andy Cline § advocacy § ecology § policy ‡ Comments Off ° Also tagged: , , , , ,

Earth Day 40 Years On

I was 13 years old on the first Earth Day and already an eco-warrior of the sort young teenagers tend to be — earnest, strident, and clueless. I’m not sure how much has changed. Scattered thunderstorms here today, so I’m on foot. I’ll “celebrate” the day by pretty much just doing what I usually do [...]

Posted 22 April 2010 † Andy Cline § Uncategorized ‡ Comments (4) ° Also tagged: , , ,

Too Much to Ask?

I attended the student presentations for the new city strategic plan yesterday. Students from area high schools, Drury, OTC, and Evangel (no MSU team? hmmmmm…) presented the city council with a snapshot of what it will take to attract them to the city as a place to live and work following graduation. (Congratulations to the [...]

Posted 14 April 2010 † Andy Cline § ecology § news § policy ‡ Comments (10) ° Also tagged: ,

Springfield: Potential Blue Zone?

Much has been written about the health benefits of burning calories instead of carbon to transport ourselves. This also happens to be one of the important components to Blue Zones — areas of the world in which people live longer, healthier lives. The premise of Blue Zones is:  identify the optimal lifestyle of longevity and [...]

Posted 13 April 2010 † Andy Cline § advocacy § policy ‡ Comments Off ° Also tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Bummer, Man

I really really really wanted the long U.S. Census form this time. No such luck. I wanted certain of my demographics to be counted (to name a few): 3-person, middle-class family owning 1 car Commuting by bicycle and on foot Living within 1 mile of work Wife works in a home office I wonder what [...]

Posted 18 March 2010 † Andy Cline § ecology ‡ Comments (6) ° Also tagged: , ,

Fat City

Gallup has gone looking for the commonalities among America’s most obese metropolitan areas. Here’s the top ten: The study covers the usual suspects, e.g. poor eating habits and lack of exercise. But here’s something they overlooked: access to (or willingness to use) alternative transportation, i.e. burning calories instead of carbon. In Montgomery, Ala., for example, [...]

Posted 03 March 2010 † Andy Cline § advocacy § ecology § news ‡ Comments (11) ° Also tagged:

A Walking Winter

Carbon Trace is also supposed to be about walking, but I don’t spend much time writing about it. Perhaps I need to change that. The last few weeks have given me much to think about because the weather has kept me on foot. I’m prepared to ride my bicycle no matter what the temperature is. [...]

Posted 25 February 2010 † Andy Cline § ecology ‡ Comments (3) ° Also tagged: ,

Walking in the Cold

Jason Peters continues to meditate on the virtues of walking at Front Porch Republic (re: Walk, Damn It!). This week he writes about what it means to walk in the cold. And by now this walking has become habitual enough that, if for pressing reasons I do not or cannot walk, I feel that an [...]

Posted 06 February 2010 † Andy Cline § advocacy § ecology ‡ Comments (10) ° Also tagged: , , , , , , , ,