We shouldn’t be aiming to nudge a few percentage points in public opinion. Our goal should be to make freedom of mobility so compelling that people demand it. usa.streetsblog.org/2026/01/13/o...

I hope you feel something between discomfort and rage when you hear about people being forced to let a road widening take over their front yard, or being forced to move out of their home to make way for some corporation. www.urbanismspeakeasy.com/p/the-busine...

Zoning will keep killing the squirrels. www.urbanismspeakeasy.com/p/the-purpos...

After the Kelo case, many states reconsidered the whole "greater good" defense of eminent domain. But there are still lots of loopholes for taking property by force. www.fastcompany.com/91463687/cas...

In many states, you can get kicked out of your home if the local government thinks someone else will generate more tax revenue. My latest in @fastcompany.com www.fastcompany.com/91463687/cas...

Local regulations created (and continue to create) car-oriented sprawl in cities and the suburbs. This has been going on for nearly 100 years without taking a foot off the brake. Planners need to confront zoning as the Villain. www.fastcompany.com/91463800/bui...

"Normal science" is the activity in which most scientists spend almost all of their time, and it's predicated on the assumption that the scientific community knows what the world is like. Zoning has a "normal science" problem. www.fastcompany.com/91460628/zon...

I still can't believe Trump is going to Make Trucks Great Again. 🙌

When you study history, you can’t help but be overwhelmed by how often things get better in the end—and how quickly the transformation can happen once it begins. www.fastcompany.com/91450326/ber...

Claim: Zoning helps more people than it hurts. Evidence: Zoning hurts more people than it helps. Planning Inc: Let’s keep trying more zoning.

It’s disappointing that the intellectual energy to improve the built environment is still coming from outside Planning Inc. or from planners who first had to unlearn much of what they were taught. open.substack.com/pub/speakeas...

When the engineers became pro-roundabout, the planners became roundabout skeptics or flat-out anti-roundabout. www.fastcompany.com/91448151/rou...

Planning Inc. would do itself a favor by considering why its heroes aren't products of Planning Inc. open.substack.com/pub/speakeas...

"The Death and Life of Great American Cities" by Jane Jacobs (redacted to avoid offending professional planners)

In the US, we make sure that our 300 million motor vehicles have proper housing. Sometimes, there's even room for vehicle operators to be co-housed.

The promise of freedom and wealth held until cities and suburbs began optimizing for vehicle throughput instead of local access and mobility. open.substack.com/pub/speakeas...

There's a King Midas aspect to motor vehicles. The Midas touch was great until he wanted to eat or drink or just hug his daughter. My latest in @fastcompany.com www.fastcompany.com/91443440/ame...

The status quo believes the fantasy that traffic violence is inevitable. That there’s nothing we can do. The truth is, we can prevent severe crashes. www.fastcompany.com/91443434/cha...

When DOTs refuse to use roundabouts, commercial corridors turn into this:

The lack of diversity of thought on this site is why I spend so little time here. It's also why, I think, so many people are returning to X.

AI-powered bus cameras can drive a transit revolution. www.urbanismspeakeasy.com/p/technology...

The economics principle behind bad traffic can be used to create good traffic. I wrote about INDUCED DEMAND for @fastcompany.com 👇 www.fastcompany.com/91418253/eco...

Normalizing good urbanism requires culture change, and culture change requires an advocacy long game that makes space for ideas that seem impossible today. www.urbanismspeakeasy.com/p/your-advoc...

Normalizing good urbanism requires culture change, and culture change requires an advocacy long game that makes space for ideas that seem impossible today. www.fastcompany.com/91415749/how...

In the US, local land use regulations are the key to unlocking healthy infrastructure. Zoning forces everything to be sprawled out across creation. If neighborhoods are allowed to have a variety of land uses, then riding a bike becomes an obvious & practical way to get around.

Doomer advocacy is a losing strategy, but it's common among US bike advocates. Things can get better in the end. After all, Copenhagen wasn't always Copenhagen. Organize fun group rides. Make some short trips by bike with a friend. Celebrate new bike lanes. Spread hope.

Road building contractors, truckers, civil engineers, and labor unions—they all funnel substantial sums of money into political campaigns because they want access to decision-makers and key influencers so they can shape legislation to their advantage. www.fastcompany.com/91402783/gro...

Zoning broke our brains, and legalizing healthy infrastructure is the first step in the path to recovery. www.urbanismspeakeasy.com/p/zoning-bro...

Human-scale design outlawed. People separated from friends & family. Racial tensions exacerbated. Housing variety outlawed. Housing prices jacked up. Car dependency normalized. Agree or Disagree: Zoning created more problems than it solved. 🤔

Our built environment doesn’t have to be so depressing. Walk-friendly, bike-friendly, transit-friendly places are good medicine, and they’re not impossible to build. My latest in @fastcompany.com www.fastcompany.com/91396643/bui...

Innovations like this are necessities because so many people suffer from Car Brain. www.fastcompany.com/91386390/ai-...

The moment we stop treating the bus as a social program and start treating it like an express sidewalk, we unlock a public good that meets people where they are and moves them forward. www.fastcompany.com/91386390/ai-... @fastcompany.com

Asking big Why and What If questions is a missed opportunity for people working on shaping the built environment. www.urbanismspeakeasy.com/p/great-idea...

There are times when the best way to learn something about urbanism is to embrace sheer ignorance. My latest in @fastcompany.com www.fastcompany.com/91381078/gre...

The pedestrian survival rate when hit at 40 MPH is only 15%. We've got a cultural problem that needs fixing, because… ✅ Driving 40 MPH on city streets is considered to be acceptable. ❌ Punishing people for driving 40 MPH on city streets is considered to be unacceptable.

I share some free tools for ‘amatuerbanists’ who want to plan a city without permission. www.fastcompany.com/91374198/cit... @fastcompany.com

It’s encouraging to see on-paper enemies form a bond over the YIMBY (Yes In My Backyard) movement. Still, be prepared for the massive ideological fight now that young socialists are growing in prominence in cities across the country. www.urbanismspeakeasy.com/p/sound-econ...

How great would it be if kids graduated without the assumption that they must be completely dependent on a personal automobile? usa.streetsblog.org/2025/07/16/c... @usa.streetsblog.org

Dear Urbanists, Families should be able to enjoy city life. They shouldn't have to expect sketchy behavior when walking down the sidewalk or riding the bus. If you truly support transportation systems for "all ages and abilities," don't dodge the difficult conversations about safety & security.

Building cities around people—instead of machines—delivers places people want to be. Here are 3 ways for your city to reclaim its streets. My latest for @fastcompany.com www.fastcompany.com/91365929/3-w...

"Subways are dangerous." In 2022, 88 people died on NYC subway tracks. Above ground: 🪦 118 people walking were killed by drivers 🪦 19 people cycling were killed by drivers 🪦 116 people driving were killed by other drivers 🚑 49,450 people were injured by NYC drivers

If you want to understand how even modern American cities became hostile to human life, don’t start with the political conspiracies; look at the way city planners and road engineers calculate success. www.fastcompany.com/91362348/roa...

We need to make good urbanism the path of least resistance. My latest for @fastcompany.com www.fastcompany.com/91360743/pub...

The auto industry spent about $12 BILLION on advertising in 2023. Whatever device you’re using to consume media, car makers and car dealers are paying to keep their products in front of you.

Driving 40 MPH on city streets is like walking through a crowded store swinging nunchucks. You might leave without hurting someone, but you're putting people in danger. If a person did get hurt, it's what we'd call a preventable injury.

Technology that’s used to change driver behavior comes down to this fundamental issue: licensed drivers routinely choose not to govern themselves, demonstrating a need to be governed by an outside force. www.urbanismspeakeasy.com/p/one-simple...

Motorists break the law to save time, cyclists break the law to save their life. Anyone who uses a bicycle for transportation understands this is true.

Speed governors are going to be forced on us if we don't start governing ourselves. My latest in @fastcompany.com www.fastcompany.com/91352729/dri...

Driving fast in populated areas is dangerous. The Dutch recognized this almost 400 years ago. If you don't govern your own speed, vehicles will govern the speed for you.

In 2023, the average annual cost to own and operate a new vehicle climbed to $12,182. For households with two cars, that’s nearly $25,000 per year. Operating a household fleet burns an awful lot of cash. www.urbanismspeakeasy.com/p/the-automo...