THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS when you run for mayor on a "pull out the bike lanes" platform in Boston. Yay @wutrain ! @bostonbikeunion @MassBike @WalkMass apnews.com/article/elec...

Rule 101: Dream Big Cities like NYC & Chicago didn’t just fix problems—they dreamed big. Charleston’s mayor, Joseph Riley’s message was "No one recalls a balanced budget—build a park instead.” His parks now host 5M+ visitors yearly. Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Yes, UPS gets it right. Thank you for not blocking the bike lane!

Rule 100: Don't Give Up on Sprawl Instead of trying to end sprawl, focus on improving it for the people there by reviving town centers, reusing empty malls, & building mixed-use neighborhoods. This is called “Retrofitting Suburbia." Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 99: Start Code Reform Now Form-based codes helps walkability by focusing on how spaces look & feel, not just what they’re used for. Start w/a 1 page zoning overlay to guide better development while planning long-term reforms. Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

91: Save Those Buildings Preservation isn’t only about nostalgia, it also has practical benefits! - Historic districts thrive in recession & attract small businesses - It’s greener & less wasteful - They support diversity & community Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 65: Provide Angle Parking Where Warranted Angled parking fits more cars without widening streets & calms traffic by requiring careful backing-in. Tucson switched to rear-angle parking & cut crashes from 1/week to 0 over 4 years. Walkable City Rules: www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 98: Do Some Tactical Urbanism Start w/looking for temporary ways to improve your area, & call it a pilot project. Use "Walk [Your City]", which offers tools 4 guerilla wayfinding signs & ask to do tests instead of costly studies. Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 97: Rebuild... or Restripe? In 2012 Cedar Rapids planned a $3M rebuild for 5 blocks, instead they repainted 30 blocks for the same price. Results: 78%↓ pedestrian crashes, 57 new businesses, 800 homes, 2k jobs & $282M growth Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 96: A Network of Walkability Show which streets are best for walking, streets fall into 3 groups: Priority: Busy but unsafe, fix first Primary: Decent now, upgrade next Secondary: Low need now Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 95: Do a Frontage Quality Assessment & Locate Anchors See where people want to walk & where they need to go. Frontage Quality: lively streets, where they want to walk Anchors: where they need to walk (key destinations ex: shops). Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 94: Do a Walkability Study A walkability study helps communities make areas safer and easier for walking and biking by focusing on 4 types of walks: - the useful walk - the safe walk - the comfortable walk - the interesting walk Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 93: Direct Your Public Art budget to Blank Walls Public art is often wasted on plaza sculptures. Cities should use art budgets for murals on blank walls, which, like trees, make streets more pleasant and welcoming. Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 92: Hide the Parking Structures Exposed parking decks drain street life & make walking dull. It only takes 20 ft of building to hide 200 ft of parking. Hide parking structures behind buildings; design garages for future reuse. Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Who knows where I am?

Rule 90: Break Up Big Buildings Big buildings can overwhelm a street, but “demise lines” breaks the facade conceptually into smaller units, helping the large buildings look like a collection of smaller structures built independently. Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 89: Limit Repetition Big projects feel more human when split into smaller, unique buildings by different architects. Variety boosts walkability, beauty, & real estate value—plus 1 mistake affects 1 building not the whole project. Walkable City Rules: www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 88: Make Sticky Edges Gehl’s Cities for People: “sticky edges”—buildings that make people linger—bring streets alive; blank walls repel. Hence, Melbourne mandates 60% openings for shops, 25% for homes, & a window/door every 10’. Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 87: Don’t Let Terrorists Design Your City NYC spends $50M on terror bollards—but far less on crashes. Data shows you’re 568x likelier to die in a crash than terror—yet terror gets far more funding per victim. Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 86: Use Lighting to Support Urbanism Lighting shapes space—auto-centric models use tall bright poles; urban ones emphasize attraction & character. Drop coverage rules—use low-energy, mid-height curb lights, creative flair & urban context. Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 85: Build Vancouver Urbanism Vancouver, created a unique walkable, mixed-use downtown without freeways after a 1960s revolt. Limit tall buildings to the Vancouver model: broad, block-filling bases below towers w/small footprints. Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 84: Never Allow Front Parking Replace with side/rear lots instead. Front parking hurts walkability by forcing people to cross big lots, reduces safety w/curb cuts, looks ugly & deters walkers & energy from businesses & streets. Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 83: Make Firm Edges Biologists say animals, us included, seek prospect (seeing predators) & refuge (protection from attack). This desire is why good plazas need good edges. 1:1 = ideal ratio; past 1:6 loses spatial definition. Walkable City Rules: www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 82: Introduce Parklets They widen narrow sidewalks, add space without costly construction, & make streets more walkable. Cities should them with Parklet Programs: business support, faster approvals, & funding in tight spots. Walkable City Rules: www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 81: Disallow Curb Cuts Driveways across sidewalks hurt walkability." In walkable areas, ban new curb cuts (except garages/hotels w/o alley), cap width at 20' for large lots, 10' otherwise, match sidewalk paving, & remove old ones. Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 80: Design Sidewalks Properly In cities, good sidewalks need 6'+ of space—12'+ on busy streets. Have 3 zones: Clear: 6’ min, for walking/rolling Tree: 5'–8’, for trees, benches, lights Frontage: 2'–3’, for signs, seating, ect. Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 79: Select and Locate Street Trees Properly Plant large, consistent tree species 20'–40' apart, depending on the tree. Use double allées where possible, add trees to medians, & follow best practices with structural soil. Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 78: Put Street Trees Almost Everywhere Street trees do it all, they... Cut crashes by 45% Raise home values 9% Boost retail sales 12% Clean air, cool streets, absorb stormwater, improve health, and make places more inviting Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

I’m proud of my tiny contribution (under my previous handle of Queen Anne Greenways) to Jeff’s excellent book: the prayerrow.

On The Futurists podcast with Rob Tercek. www.thefuturists.com/episodes/fut...

Rule 77: Build Naked Streets & Shared Spaces A chaotic Main St in Poynton, UK cut signals, signs, & curbs—creating a shared plaza. Handles 25K cars/day—no congestion, & 0 crashes. Shared streets calm traffic & revive public space. Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 76: Replace Signals with All-way Stops 1978: Philly replaced 462 signals with stop signs. Crashes ↓ 24% Severe injuries ↓ 62.5% Pedestrian injuries ↓ 68% At quiet intersections, stop signs are safer, cheaper & faster. Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 75: Bag the Beg Buttons Pedestrian push buttons often don’t work, they make walking feel 2nd-class & a survey across 3 U.S. cities found just 1 working button. Use only at midblock crossings with HAWK beacons & they should work instantly. www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 74: Keep Signals Simple Long signal cycles slow cities & walkers. Intersections work best with concurrent signals, 30–60 second cycles, Lead Pedestrian Intervals citywide, & scramble phases saved for high-foot-traffic areas. Walkable City Rules t.co/2RtkJjwl7b

Rule 73: Make Great Crosswalks Smart design makes better crosswalks. Use raised crosswalks at dangerous spots, & paint bold ladder markings along desire lines. Try creative designs—don't pedestrian bridges & tunnels. Walkable City Rules t.co/2RtkJjwl7b

Rule 72: Create Pedestrian Zones Properly 85–95% of ~200 U.S. main streets closed failed due to poor pedestrian zone planning. Create these zones gradually, as needed, guided by proven models, best practices, & community input. Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 71: Remove Centerlines on Neighborhood Streets In 2009, London removed centerlines from 2-lane streets. Drivers slowed down by 7 mph—cutting pedestrian death risk nearly in half. No line = more caution, slower speeds, safer streets. Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 70: Do Not “Fix” Complexity Complex intersections look confusing, but they slow drivers. Stuart, FL’s 7-way “Confusion Corner” was almost rebuilt, but locals pushed back—& it remains one of the safest spots around. Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 69: Use Roundabouts with Discretion Roundabouts work in traffic-heavy areas—Carmel, IN added 100+ & saw 80% less injuries. But avoid putting them in downtown, as don't make drivers stop & force pedestrians into awkward routes. Walkable City Rules: t.co/2RtkJjwl7b

Rule 68: Place Neckdowns at Wide Crossings Neckdowns (curb extensions) slow turns, shorten crossings, and boost safety—especially on wide or crash-prone streets. Use bulb-outs or intersection repair to shrink space as needed. Walkable City Rules: t.co/2RtkJjwl7b

Rule 67: Design Left-Turn Lanes Properly Highway-style left-turn lanes add 160' of no-go zones, waste curb space, and encourage speeding. In urban areas , use an urban turn-lane standard which doesn't have anticipatory no-go zones. Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 65: Provide Angle Parking Where Warranted Angled parking fits more cars without widening streets & calms traffic by requiring careful backing-in. Tucson switched to rear-angle parking & cut crashes from 1/week to 0 over 4 years. Walkable City Rules t.co/2RtkJjwl7b

Rule 64: Design Parallel Parking Properly Good parallel parking is 7–8’ wide, ~20’ long, well-marked, slows traffic, & includes pickup zones near corners. Wider spaces encourage speeding; narrower ones keep cars closer to the curb. Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 63: Put Curb Parking Almost Everywhere Curb parking protects sidewalks, calms traffic, cuts the need for big lots, & the National Trust’s Main St. program says each space adds ~$10K in retail. Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 62: Do Not Use Sharrows as Cycling Facilities Sharrows mark shared lanes for bikes & cars A University of CO study found bike lanes had the best safety and ridership, while sharrows performed worst—even worse than no markings. Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 61: Build Conventional Bike Lanes Properly Bike lanes should be 5'–6′ wide. Use buffers if possible. Bright green paint improves visibility. Add bike boxes & crossings at intersections. And prioritize connected networks. Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 60: Use Conventional Bike Lanes Where they Belong Once standard, conventional (painted) bike lanes are still useful, though protected tracks are safer. Avoid them on big/fast roads; use on narrow streets or to fill network gaps. Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

Rule 59: Build Cycle Tracks Properly Good cycle tracks have 5' lanes each way, a 3' buffer from traffic & are often safer on the left side of one-way streets. Buffers can be paint, curbs, or islands. Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

I grew up with Tom Lehrer on the turntable. If you called his house in Cambridge, you always got a funny recording. Amazing man. If you don’t know him, start with the Varican Rag. Then try National Brotherhood Week. RIP good sir. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/27/a...