Every day, The Overhead Wire collects news about cities and sends the links to their email list. At the end of the week they take some of the most popular stories and post them to Greater Greater Washington, a group blog similar to Streets.mn that focuses on urban issues in the D.C. region. They are national and international links, sometimes entertaining or absurd but often useful.
Stopping street takeovers: To prevent street takeovers and sideshows, cities such as Cleveland, Ohio, are copying a disruption method from Kansas City, Missouri, by scooping out and indenting intersections. The carved indentions puncture tires of vehicles doing donuts or burnouts in the road, but don’t impact vehicles driving straight or turning. Trying to stop these behaviors, Cleveland has even created a “takeover task force.” (Logan Carter | Jalopnik)
San Francisco daylights intersections: San Francisco will begin issuing fines for vehicles parked within 20 feet of a crosswalk after Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law in 2023 that required greater visibility for pedestrians at intersections. This “daylighting” is meant to improve safety and will impact 14,000 of the city’s more than 275,000 on-street parking spaces. Merchants and drivers are, unsurprisingly, already complaining about the change. (George Kelly and Alex Mullaney | SF Standard)
Mexico all in on housing: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has launched a program focused on building more housing that is affordable and equitable. The program will partner with national housing institutions to build 1 million homes and will break with previous administrations that prioritized profit over public good. A zero interest mortgage scheme will allow more Mexicans to gain a pathway to homeownership. (Jesus Mesa | Newsweek)
Evolving gas stations: More than 80% of electric vehicle drivers charge their batteries at home. But for those who don’t, the experience of finding a charger can be frustrating. And stopping to refuel with electricity involves a longer wait than filling up with gasoline. So gas stations are likely to evolve, and companies are seeing an opportunity to make money through premium amenities and commercial real estate. (Patrick Sisson | Fast Company)
Failures of urban governance: David Schleicher, a professor of property and urban law at Yale Law School, argues that urbanites are growing increasingly frustrated with city governance and that a new administration will not cure their ills. Instead, with fewer resources available, they’ll have to push for reforms that enable growth and improve essential services. If city governments can respond, they may be able to create solutions that match residents’ political values. (David Schleicher | Vital City)
This week on the Talking Headways podcast, we’re joined by Gillian Gillett of the California Integrated Travel Project (Cal-ITP) and Dan Baker, of the Connecticut Department of Transportation to discuss how agencies can create simpler payment and travel experiences for transit riders.
Quote of the Week
“People sang together and cheered for each other while climbing uphill together. I could feel the passion of the young people. And it was much more than a bike ride.”
— Liu Lulu discussing the Kaifeng dumpling ride in China, which swelled to 100,000 people.