Recent Streetsblog CALIFORNIA posts about Urban Design

Say Hello to Orange County’s First Green Bike Lanes

By Kristopher Fortin | Aug 12, 2015 | 3 Comments

The City of Santa Ana has added painted bike lanes on four different streets throughout Santa Ana in the past two weeks. Prior, neither Santa Ana nor Orange County did not have one. The first green paint-an area of about 20 feet- that was applied to a lane on July 27 on a northbound portion […]

With New Rule, Feds Forget Their Own Best Ideas on Street Design

By Tanya Snyder | Jul 30, 2015 | No Comments

Antiquated, car-oriented road design guidance is losing its vise grip on our cities. Other manuals are challenging the dominance of the “design bible” issued by AASHTO, the coalition of state DOTs. But the federal government might be missing an important opportunity to enshrine street safety for all modes. Over the past few years, the Federal […]

Infographic: Historic Housing Trends in Santa Monica

By Jason Islas and Jamie Horton | Jul 23, 2015 | 1 Comment

The above infographic traces the historical trends of housing in Santa Monica. Data are from existing housing stock. As is clear from the graphic, in the last thirty years relatively little housing has been built due to zoning restrictions and political obstacles. While Santa Monica’s population has remained relatively static over the last several decades, […]

The Worst Bike Lane in the World?

By Melanie Curry | Jun 25, 2015 | 34 Comments

The title of this post may be a bit hyperbolic, but Orinda really deserves attention for this one-of-a-kind bike facility. As seen in the image above, a bike lane on Camino Pablo signals that bicyclists should go straight ahead—between two right-turn lanes that lead to a freeway onramp. Yes, the right turn from the middle […]

San Diego Mayor and City Leaders Embrace Vision Zero

By Damien Newton | Jun 22, 2015 | 4 Comments

Flanked by city officials, fellow elected officials, the chief of police and the head of the progressive transportation advocacy group Circulate San Diego, Mayor Kevin Faulconer announced their support for San Diego to embrace Vision Zero. Faulconer promises his administration will produce a plan to reduce traffic deaths in the city to zero through progressive transportation […]

Suburbs Could Have Been So Great

By Melanie Curry | May 7, 2015 | 4 Comments

If American suburbs had been built to match the aspirations of some of their early proponents like Lewis Mumford or Catherine Bauer Wurster, they could look very different today. Originally conceived in response to overcrowded conditions in cities, suburbs were seen as an escape from unhealthy tenements into peaceful small cities in the countryside. But […]