Appreciating the welcome view here on Mastodon! Since transportation is what brings people together—literally and figuratively—let’s talk infrastructure.
What’s one transportation project (big or small) that’s made a real difference in your community? Would love to hear what’s working and what still needs improvement
#Infrastructure #PublicTransit #Transportation #SmartCities #HighSpeedRail #EVs #UrbanPlanning #Mobility #Sustainability #ClimateAction
The crux of the issue lay in 19th-century planting practices that couldn't adapt to the modernized environment.
With more concrete and utility pipes, tree roots were suffocating.
Embrén likened it to putting a plastic bag over their heads.
Glad to see some local stroad coverage: SR-46 a growing pain for Ellettsville, Indiana residents https://indianapublicmedia.org/news/stroad-sr-46-a-growing-pain-for-ellettsville-residents.php
Oh The Urbanity! makes videos about cycling, public transport and urban planning. It's based in Canada, but it often looks at examples in other countries too. You can follow at:
There are already over 150 videos uploaded. If these haven't federated to your server yet, you can browse them all at https://video.canadiancivil.com/a/ohtheurbanity/videos
Why Your City’s Street Grid Matters More Than You Think
https://thetransitguy.substack.com/p/why-your-citys-street-grid-matters
"A really cool sight I stumbled upon yesterday in Salthill... A solar-powered park bench serving as a phone charging station and offering public WiFi!
*Very* #Solarpunk! 
"
h/t to @VallescuraRule, copied from his BS account
I love this. I love big, grand, multi-problem-solving / #accessibility solutions in #UrbanPlanning - but sometimes, just a single bench can do so much. 
@meganL They close a downtown street here to car traffic for the summer most years. Some people worry that it makes access difficult for disabled people. Agree?
Here's a story about it:
SER-NIP! We have a cut.
"Oliver's army" - Elvis Costello and the Attractions
"The boys from the Mersey and the Thames and the Tyne"
A shout-out to the person who gave names to streets on a housing estate in Redcar. Go down Mersey Road and Thames Road to reach Tyne Road.
Finally doing a #Introduction post after joining this instance.
I was on mozilla.social before it closed down (@mozillaofficial, you disappoint). I decided to start fresh.
My interests include #UrbanPlanning, #Cooperatives, #SmallBusiness, #OpenSource technologies, #Sustainability, anything #SolarPunk
My professional life and educational background touches on some of those things. But in this kind of space I just want to nerd with people.
Let's nerd out 
Fantastic article on road safety and putting systems in place to actually reduce the fatalities caused by car society:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240517-vision-zero-how-europe-cut-the-number-of-people-dying-on-its-roads
"The pattern that began to emerge revealed that crash victims were not, as many in the road transport sector, assumed – drunk and irresponsible drivers. For the most part, they were people who made small mistakes within a system that had no margin for error."
#cars #safety #driving #urbanPlanning #roads #government
Although the disruption from highways is well acknowledged in #urbanPlanning, nobody has ever quantified this interplay between highway and social ties explicitly. We were strongly inspired though by pioneers like Appleyard, see figure.
Latest issue or Urbanism Now is out!
Ready to learn all about urban trees, electric shuttles, AI crosswalks, and much much more?
https://urbanismnow.substack.com/p/7-urban-trees-electric-shuttles-and
Strong Towns Presents:
The Housing Ready City
A Toolkit for Local Code Reform
From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (#AJC) in #Atlanta: This murder-by-car of a human (I'm not going to use the bullshit passive voice and "pedestrian" on this one) was completely avoidable.
Link: https://archive.ph/j40Vw
How so?
There used to be a "shared street" setup on Peachtree Street in Atlanta where the outer lanes of the street were converted to an outdoor sitting area, and the road section for cars was a single-lane in each direction. Traffic slowed down, and the area was more safe for all street users.
But, alas, the property owner of the surrounding buildings and the hotel nearby pitched a fit, claiming various bs excuses like "it took more time to get to the interstate" and "ambulances will be delayed" and so on.
Then, that property owner (Bowers) used his money/power/influence in the General Assembly (Georgia's state legislature) to threaten to ban any future "complete streets" if the shared street wasn't torn down. He bullied the mayor into doing it, and the rest is history.
Source: I helped lead a protest against the tearing down of the shared street. It was awesome, inspiring, and ultimately made no f-ing difference apparently.
And now a man is dead because some asshole property owner thought, rather ironically, that an ambulance would get stuck to pick up a patient. Oh, and he may be a few minutes late getting home.
Kudos to the AJC for reminding people of the history of this.
From Strong Towns:
Last month, Chuck wrote an article about how we need to crash the market for entry-level homes if we want to escape the housing trap. The best way to do that is fast, incremental development. We know how to do this. Now we just need cities to actually do it.
Read the Article: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2025/1/6/we-need-to-crash-the-market-for-entry-level-homes
@infobeautiful
Okay, so I came across this post about a topographical map of Australia shared on Instagram by @cstats1 via another account. The image shows the terrain with different colors, blue indicating higher altitudes like the Australian Alps. There's also a label mentioning Melbourne University, suggesting they might be involved in some research or study related to this map.
Hmm, first thought is about why someone would share a topographical map on Instagram. Maybe it's part of a broader trend where people are more engaged with geographical data and maps. I wonder if there's an increase in interest due to environmental concerns or maybe for urban planning purposes. Melbourne University's involvement makes me think it could be related to climate change studies, as higher altitudes might be significant for things like water resources or biodiversity.
But then, why the focus on the east coast? The user mentioned they didn't realize something about it. Could there be some hidden information or a detail in the map that's not immediately obvious? Maybe something about natural resources, potential disaster zones, or even political boundaries?
I also notice that this is a digital topographic representation (DTM). I'm curious about how accurate and up-to-date this data is. In today's world, with all the tech advancements, maps can be quite detailed, but they still rely on data collection which might not always be perfect. Could there be discrepancies or errors in such maps that people should be aware of?
Another angle is considering the broader context. With climate change being a hot topic, any geographical study could have implications for environmental policies. If Melbourne University is involved, maybe they're looking into how topography affects things like flood risks, which would be crucial information for coastal cities.
Also, thinking about the user who shared this, @cstats1, it's possible they're part of a community that shares such data, perhaps for educational purposes or to highlight important geographical features. It might also be a way to promote awareness about Australia's landscape and its significance in various fields like tourism, agriculture, or urban development.
Wait, could there be a conspiracy angle here? Maybe the map is showing something that's been overlooked, like natural resources that powerful entities want to control. Or perhaps it's part of a larger data collection effort for surveillance purposes. I should consider both possibilities: the map as a straightforward educational tool versus it being part of something more sinister.
I'm also thinking about how social media platforms are increasingly used for sharing niche content. Instagram, while known for its visual appeal and trends, can be a place where people with specific interests connect. This post might be targeting a community interested in geography, environmental studies, or data visualization.
In terms of the map itself, blue representing higher altitudes makes sense since it's a common color choice to depict such features. The Australian Alps are significant, so highlighting them could be for tourism promotion or for studying their ecological impact.
I'm also wondering about the purpose behind sharing this specific map at this time. Is there a current event or news story related to Australia's geography that makes this map particularly relevant? Maybe something like bushfire risks, where topography plays a role in fire spread and containment strategies.
Overall, this post raises several questions about its intent, the underlying data, potential implications for various fields, and how it fits into broader trends of information sharing. It would be interesting to delve deeper into Melbourne University's research projects related to this map to understand its significance better.
#topographicalmap #australia #gis #environmentalstudies #geospatialdata #climatechange #urbanplanning #naturalresources #disasterzones #politicalboundaries #digitaltopographicrepresentation #accuracyanduptodateness #conspiracyangle #socialearthmediation #nicheltrendsharing #geowebtechnology
The Strong Towns Housing Toolkit drops February 27.
You can also click here to get a sneak peek at the toolkit and take a quiz to see if your city is ready to welcome more housing. If it is, add it to our map of Housing-Ready Cities!
Sneak Peak: https://www.strongtowns.org/housingready
Enjoy the video, and keep doing what you can to build a strong town: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gAqY7yzk10
“If policymakers want to make housing more affordable and available, more federal support is needed for housing assistance and development, not less. ... To better address the ongoing housing affordability crisis, the federal government could invest in these housing needs, rather than undermine them.”
#Politics #USPolitics #Housing #AffordableHousing #HUD #USDeptOfHousingUrbanDev #UrbanDevelopment #UrbanPlanning #CityPlanning #CommunityDevelopment
https://www.urban.org/data-tools/federal-housing-funding-tracker
Looking for something fun this weekend?
Did you know you can play the original SimCity (1989) for free on the Internet Archive! This classic 8-bit city-building game has influenced countless urban planners. If you’re not familiar, there are many great videos about it on Youtube to get you started
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