Blueprint America

04/24/2009 :: 06:48:48 PM
Rob Says:

Looks awesome. PBS’s documentaries are always worthwhile.

04/27/2009 :: 11:23:32 AM
anne Says:

Before you get all enamoured with the trains and trolleys, built a vast expense to shuttle very few people around a detailed investigation, should look at the decaying infrastructures in Portland as well. The bus services are being cut, the 100 year old sewer is a mess, the streets are full of potholes, the fire department has to levy ‘inspection fees on small businesses for their operating expenses, the police are underfunded, the jails are closed, the schools have no money, and the city has a huge homeless population that is under served.
A good many of these problems could be lessened IF the vast amounts of money spent on trains and trolleys were instead spent on bus service, which is vastly less expensive and more efficient, and the remainder redirected to serve these other pressing needs.

04/27/2009 :: 11:26:37 AM
mick harris Says:

Did anybody pay their fare?

04/27/2009 :: 01:15:48 PM
Meghan Says:

Anne:

In case you were confused, the pots of money that have funded development of Portland’s excellent bus, train, and streetcar lines are different from those that fund some of the supposedly “decaying” items you list. It’s not possible to just take money (much of it coming from federal transportation sources) away from light rail or streetcar to put into other things.

For example, jails here are paid for by our county and our city governments — not by TriMet, the transit agency, which is independent of the local governments.

Schools in Oregon are paid for by state funds primarily, not by TriMet.

Those are just a couple examples — I agree it’s a shame that some bus services are being temporarily scaled back because payroll taxes are low right now. But I also see places in Portland where light rail and streetcar lines are a great force for eco-friendly development, and thus a positive thing for the Portland metro area.

04/27/2009 :: 03:48:04 PM
Michael Wagoner Says:

Did they bother to talk about the incredible subsidy that the light rail and street cars get in Portland? I seriously doubt it. Did they talk about the incredibly small segment of the population that the systems serve? Again, I doubt it. While PBS often produces some good documentaries, they don’t always look at all sides. I fear this will be a ‘mass transit’ feel good documentary and not a purely objective look at the way Portland has done it’s ‘mass transit’.

04/27/2009 :: 04:05:53 PM
ian Says:

Despite what anne might lead you to believe, the cost of lightrail & streetcar have nothing to do with sewers, schools, fire dept, or police funding issues. The fact is that buses are under-utilized in many cities because of the stigma attached. Rail systems shift the balance of public perception to viewing transit as clean, efficient, and attractive. Growth of ridership shows quite clearly that the investment in rail is working. Portland’s transit system removes thousands of vehicles from the road every day. If anything, we should be arguing for far more money to be spent on infrastructure that supports transit, bicycling, and walking because the shift to these modes for short and medium distance trips is a huge factor in creating a truly livable, safe city.
anne is quick to point out the streets filled with potholes. These could be easily fixed if we weren’t relying on a gas tax funding system that hasn’t been raised in over 12 years in the state of Oregon, forcing the majority of funding to come from property taxes and general fund sources. The cars that are damaging our roads daily are not paying nearly enough to repair the havoc they cause, to say nothing of the environmental and safety costs. Don’t get me wrong, cars need to continue to be a part of the transportation system, but their true cost needs to be realistically addressed. We can (and we will) build a city that puts the personal automobile in its proper place on the funding and infrastructure hierarchy.

04/27/2009 :: 04:41:33 PM
chris Says:

i don’t believe portlands infrastructure is any more in disrepair than any other large american city, maybe especially so with the current economy. pot holes: try the midwest. or back east maybe, anywhere with good freezes and the need to plow streets. a 100 year old sewer system that can’t keep up with demand? (but is undergoing a massive reconstruction that is nearly complete…) not shocking. portland’s population 100 years ago was *maybe* 100,000. it’s nearly 600,000 in the city proper now. city budget cuts? join the club. my experience of living in pdx vs. several other big cites is that pdx offers a quality of living that far exceeds anything i’ve had before. it’s no wonder people keep moving here…

04/27/2009 :: 06:30:57 PM
jason Says:

Michael Wagoner: “I fear this will be a ‘mass transit’ feel good documentary…”

That is why they have included Denver for balance. A place where they like to spit on ‘mass transit’ and let the city sprawl to the Kansas border.

04/28/2009 :: 10:31:09 AM
Michael Wagoner Says:

Ah, but Ian doesn’t talk about how light rail’s ridership numbers are/were inflated because they stop several bus routes when they start light rail. Those riders are now called ‘new riders’, which they aren’t. They are just misplaced bus riders. Some of the ‘new’ routes take much longer than the old bus routes. Finally, regarding roads – mass transit does only one thing at a HUGE cost, it moves people. Roads move people, goods and services. Light rail and streetcars do at a HUGE cost what buses do for much less cost AND the roads the buses use can move services and goods, light rail and streetcars can’t. Light rail and streetcars are ‘photo opps’ but suck as mass transit alternatives.

Of course the last point is that with buses as your mass transit choice, people can live pretty much where they want. Where there is more demand we simply set up a bus route, where people move away we alter the bus routes. With light rail and streetcars the government basically says, you WILL live here because this is the only place that mass transit is. Using light rail and streetcars is merely another cog in social engineering – and Portland plays the game well at a HUGE financial cost.

04/29/2009 :: 07:49:07 PM
john Says:

Wow. One thing’s for certain. People from Portland have a lot to say about films they haven’t seen. That and potholes.

04/30/2009 :: 03:54:06 PM
Dana M. Says:

In Portland we have a saying: If Nature wanted men to have paved roads there wouldn’t be potholes.

05/03/2009 :: 08:23:28 AM
Bente Lilja Bye Says:

When you discuss the future development of the coastal New York, I recommend you seek advice from professor Hans-Peter Plag, University of Nevada, Reno. He has done a lot of work on estimating the various sea level scenarios that New York City could face. It will be of general interest, I assure you. :-)

05/03/2009 :: 08:33:40 AM
Steve Beste Says:

I look forward to seeing more of Miles O’Brien’s work on PBS. Next time, please look at the unplanned messes the cities of the South have become… ie Miami, Atlanta.

05/03/2009 :: 08:13:01 PM
Streetsblog » PBS Broadcasts ‘Blueprint America: Road to the Future’ Says:

[...] by calendar on May 3, 2009 WhenMay 20, 2009   8:00 pm   WhereWNET – Channel 13More InfoPBS [...]

05/04/2009 :: 05:23:52 PM
Kevin K Says:

We have spent a long time destroying our cities infrastructure by luring middle and higher income earners to the suburbs with our policies, and creating more transit problems that we should have. “Investment” in infrastructure is a waste of time until we return industry ( not just govt service, healthcare and finance), jobs and people to our cities. “Efficient” is a word that just doesnt apply to the way our cities operate. Its no surprise that we struggle for ways to keep up infrastructure that is clearly not sustainable. If you want to put cars in the “proper place in the transportation hierarchy” you need to eliminate he need for so much car traffic. Many European cities have been forced to deal with this problem because they dont have the suburban land. Therefore, people do something novel in order to travel, they walk. They can walk, because they live in the city. We are too “wealthy” and “privileged” to have such an existence.
Instead we levy fees and taxes on business to finance the gap created by less tax revenue in the cities. Just the type of Government policy that continues to send our jobs out of America.
Continuing to finance these projects with debt is a recipe for bankrupting America. Now we continue to ignore the real problems and borrow our way into creating jobs. If there was truly a need, it could easily be satisfied by all of the tax revenue from all of the wage earners that used the infrastructure.
The scary part is our local Government believes if they have the money, they can do it themselves and pass the cost on to the future generations. When did Government ever do an effective job managing cost for anything? More debt, given to the people who authorized it and have no accountability for how it is spent. The free markets are gone.
But well feel better anyway after seeing this Im sure!!

05/09/2009 :: 08:40:11 AM
Margaret W Says:

I too look forward to seeing Miles again!

05/09/2009 :: 06:29:44 PM
BikeDenver.org » Spotlight On: Denver’s Living Streets Initiative - Free PBS Film Screening May 14 profiles Denver, Portland and New York’s road to improve infrastructure Says:

[...] See a preview at: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/blueprintamerica/reports/road-to-the-future/video-preview/549/ [...]

05/12/2009 :: 08:48:40 AM
Roy Says:

Anne spoke of “trolleys” (trams, light rail) as if they were something out of a Mr. Rodger’s episode, and that buses are the way to go. However, buses are nothing more than oversized cars. In fact, it was the owner of the bus systems way back when that “bought-out” their competition, the “trolleys”, and litterally burned them to the ground in a war-like victory dance for their capitol gain on the transportation market; so, buses have become the option that were given to us–a gift that keeps on taking!

05/12/2009 :: 12:29:27 PM
Herb Herman Says:

An important matter that receives insufficient attention is the loss of many infrastructure systems through corrosion. Major paint corporation have captured municipalities and the federal government into believing that painting is the only means for long term corrosion protection – I’m talking about the need to protect steel for periods exceeding at least 50 years. Is, any paint, is expensive and long-term ineffective, whereas metal thermal spray which has been used in Europe for decades, but sparingly in the USA, is the answer. I.e, “Spray and go away”!

05/14/2009 :: 04:58:27 PM
PBS to Feature Sheridan Expressway Teardown « Mobilizing the Region Says:

[...] America,” in an episode titled “Road to the Future.”   According to PBS, “the documentary goes to three American cities – Denver, Portland, and New York – to see [...]

05/18/2009 :: 01:50:21 PM
Rajesh Gulati Says:

It is about time that our media starts talking about the mass transit & its positive impact upon American cities. There needs to be a way wean ourselves from the destructive impact of cars. Ithe cars are choking our cities & preventing us from really enjoying nature. These are the prime reason for obesity & environmental degradation. Thanks PBS!

05/19/2009 :: 01:23:46 PM
x-Portlander Says:

I loved living in Portland!! What I don’t miss about it… all those self-ritouos-know-it-alls that have so much to say regardless of how much they understand! Mass transit as a conspiracy theory, government trying to dictate where you live??? Come on, that is so ridiculous. I would much prefer the clean, quiet ride along 205 on the train than on a bus, especially at rush hour! Trains respond to growth, and then facilitate it further. They help keep value in a neighborhood with consistency. I would prefer a light rail stop in my front yard, which creates stability, to a bus stop any day. Busses are so loud, and give my kids asthma :(

05/19/2009 :: 03:53:12 PM
ATB Says:

I love the comment that Denver spits on public trans! It’s so true! And what is even worse, in an effort to be hip and trendy, lots of Denverites are now taking to the streets on scooters and bicycles and killing themselves because they don’t know/understand the rules of the road. Honestly, Colorado in general and Denver in specific is really very backwards when it comes to conservation and concern about the public good. I’ve lived here for 10 years and marveled over the fact that there is no subway and that the buses stop running at 10 p.m. Also, forget it if you live out in the ‘burbs! I applaud PBS for including the worst offender in their program: Highlands Ranch- the last bastion of selfish suburbia!

05/19/2009 :: 10:58:17 PM
jon Says:

Michael Wagoner says that “mass transit does only one thing at a HUGE cost, it moves people,” but light rail and streetcar do much more than that. They encourage development and serve tourism, as it appeals to out-of-towners reluctant to use the bus. The Pearl would still be all smelly warehouses without the streetcar and I-84 and hwy26 would be way more jammed without light rail.

05/20/2009 :: 01:05:15 PM
Joe Leaphorn Says:

“And, Congress is about to consider a transportation bill that will determine the course of the nation’s highways and transit for years to come.”

This sentence says it all. As long as we separate highways from other forms of transportation, we will never have a balanced transportation policy. One thing that the current administration is doing is to combine the thinking about various modes of transportation into a coherent public policy, which is sorely needed.

A few other things of note:

ALL forms of transportation in the US are subsidized. The Federal Government’s share of road and highway funding is about $40 billion, annually with the states picking up the rest. Currently the Feds borrow about $8 billion/year from the general fund to cover the gap left by inadequate revenues from gas taxes.

The Air Traffic system costs about $28 billion, annually, not including the bankruptcy bailout package. When you consider that the government also assumed the cost of pensions when the airlines declared bankruptcy, air travel is one of the most subsidized forms of transportation after roadways. It may surprise many to know that hundreds of millions of dollars a year are spent to keep open rural airports and subsidize flights of under 500 miles that serve only small communities (the Essential Air Service Program).

A bipartison commission has recommended the elimination of the gas tax replacing it with pay as you go fees which would be indexed to odometer miles. That means ANY miles driven, whether on the highways or Daytona Beach, will be taxed.

The only transportation system in the US which owns and pays for its own infrastructure are the freight railroads. Washington National Airport, which pays no taxes, was built at a cost of $36 million. At the same time, Washington Union Station was built with private capital, had an estimated value of $32 million, and paid $6 million in property taxes. The railroads pay taxes on every mile of track. Roads pay nothing.

The tax revenues from Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Station were used to subsidize Greater Pittsburgh International Airport.

Busses are only more efficient that rails if you ignore the cost of building and maintaining the roads to service them. There are also practical safety limits to the speed of busses far less than those of rails.

Until the government started subsidizing roads and airports (and taxing passenger rail service at 15%), passenger rail was profitable. Take away the Federal subsidy for both of these systems and automobile traffic would only be self-supporting for short haul trips and passenger air for long haul trips. Intercity rail would make up the difference.

Most modern intercity rail services outside the US do not recover their construction costs but are able to support operating and capital improvement costs through ticket sales, advertising, etc. This is not true for roads and highways or airports (taken as a whole).

05/20/2009 :: 01:40:59 PM
The Bike Pittsburgh Blog Archives » PBS doc, Blueprint America: Road to the Future Premiers tonight Says:

[...] on PBS a new documentary, Blueprint America: Road to the Future, will premiere that explores America’s “aging and changing infrastructure,  examines [...]

05/20/2009 :: 02:54:20 PM
Streetsblog » On TV Tonight… Says:

[...] Blueprint America series will be airing "Road to the Future" tonight at 8pm in New York City. Check your local PBS station for times. Part of a PBS series [...]

05/20/2009 :: 04:30:10 PM
Jon Morgan Says:

I cannot figure out when this airs on KCTS in Seattle.

05/20/2009 :: 10:16:17 PM
Downtown Denver Resident Says:

I feel that PBS unfairly portrayed Denver in this documentary. Most large city cities in American have their “Highlands Ranch” and it is inaccurate to just focus on that aspect of a city’s development. I have visited Portland several times, and while it is a great city, it too has its urban sprawl.

Denver is working hard to undo some sins of the past. What this documentary failed to even mention is the strong anti-sprawl and pro-transit movement active in the city. The Denver metro-area is currently working on the largest and most aggressive rail project in the country. This project is being funding through a sales tax increase that was strongly approved by Denver metro voters. Further, the Mayor’s office has been very active in creating bike lanes and encouraging commuting via bikes. While some may say that Denver-ites spit on transit I find this to be very untrue as at least 50% of the people in my office (admittedly small at 35) choose to commute to work via either bus, light-rail, bike or feet.

For the first time in more than 25 year, the city of Denver’s population increased, at a larger rate than the suburbs further evidencing the anti-sprawl movement. We too have had our successes with smart urban development as demonstrated by the renewal and historic preservation of LODO and the Ballpark area.

We have a ways to go, but we are working on it. Now we just need to start working on that rail line into the mountains.

05/20/2009 :: 10:19:14 PM
Sarah Says:

I found the documentary very interesting. The ability to walk and bike to the grocery store, play grounds, schools,community centers,dry cleaners, ect. offers people so many health benefits. The need to drive every where isolates people and does not alow people to be a part of the community they live in. I grew up on military bases where we were able to ride our bikes to everything. You could walk most places as well. Can you imagine how much healthier Americans would be if they actually biked or walked most places. I find Portland to be inspiring. All cities have their problems, but I think they are headed in the right direction.

05/20/2009 :: 10:32:41 PM
Claire Says:

Blueprint America: Road to the Future is so biased I could barely sit still to watch it. I am so disappointed in the documentary. I am a loyal PBS follower and the only thing I can say about this presentation is that it is a study in one sidedness. No, I’m not at odds with the concept of public transportation; I embrace it. I live in Denver and rarely drive my car. I bicycle along beautifully maintained bike paths which bisect the city for easy access from one part of town to another. Spitting on public transportation? Get real — spend some time in the city and then tell me we don’t care about alternate means of transportation. And Portland — You’re kidding right? Where was the description of the absolutely suffocating sprawl of automobiles circling the city on the 405 and 5? This film has the audacity to denigrate Denver for its urban sprawl while turning a blind eye on the same situation in the city of rightousness? Yikes, I think I’ve unloaded some really negative feedback. Sorry. I just don’t like my city being so totally misrepresented by biased accounts. Yes, sure, Portland rocks, but don’t underestimate Denver. Thanks.

05/20/2009 :: 10:38:08 PM
Mary Sweeney Says:

Highlands Ranch is NOT Denver. Yes, there is a lot of sprawl around Denver but Denver itself has a vibrant downtown where many from the ‘burbs take light rail to work and play. Your portrait is so unbalanced! Many people (including me) live in Denver’s core and bus, walk, bike just like your snobby Portlanders. I have lived both places, BOTH have a vibrant downtown. Your film make it sound like Denver is nothing but suburbs – how wrong! Next time you visit, get off the highway and take in a sports event, theater, music – all in downtown on the light rail line.

05/20/2009 :: 11:20:01 PM
road to the future - Denver - Colorado (CO) - City-Data Forum Says:

[...] on pbs tonight comparing the transportation policy and history of denver, portland and new york? Road to the Future ~ Overview | Blueprint America I’m moving from NYC to denver and this show was a bit discouraging but i’d be interested in the [...]

05/20/2009 :: 11:31:28 PM
Paul Justus Says:

I find it incredible that a show with honest reporting would overlook a promising new development like Personal Rapid Transit (PRTs). This is a promising technology that will help move people much more efficiently and effectively in the near term future. It is already being developed in England and Abu Dhabi. However, politicians in the U.S. are basically ignorant of the many benefits PRT systems will provide.

Another solution left out of this program is the possibility of Geo-Libertarian tax reform. Instead of placing vast boarders on cities like Portland, governments should remove taxes on buildings (and all forms of human improvement, work, and investment) and, instead, put a user fee on the exclusive use of land under the buildings or vacant lots according to its unimproved value. This simple tax reform would encourage urban land speculators to either use or sell their speculative holdings so that there would be more urban infill and less sprawl – without the heavy handed restrictions.

However, it goes without saying our human population must level off to replacement. Exponential human growth and over-consumption of non-renewable resources is unsustainable.

05/20/2009 :: 11:51:57 PM
Edie Bryan Says:

A good program, but Denver does have a Regional Transportation District which operates busses and 5 light rail lines. We passed a sales tax increase up to 1 cent in 2004 for more. It’s construction has already started, but is short of funds now because of decreased revenue. Naysayers here said no one would ride it, but turns out that is not true. Many of the park and ride lots are full at 7:00 a.m. If you come to Denver, check it out.

05/21/2009 :: 12:08:08 AM
RPOC Says:

Awesome show on why our country lags SO behind. Spend 1/10 of our military budget in the US and we would thrive again as a nation. I live in Portland. Would not want to live anywhere else. Lessons to be learned here, we need to invest in our interests. Good luck Denver!!!

05/21/2009 :: 12:22:34 AM
Gill Says:

All cities are having difficulties in all areas of service and infrastructure now. It’s a systemic problem that goes way back in time. Today’s economic downturn exasterpates it. Smart elected offices have to make smart decisions. Las Cruces NM is one the fastest growing cites of it’s size and we need to make the smart sustainable decisions. Thank God for PBS helping us see the way forward.

05/21/2009 :: 11:25:45 AM
Logan Says:

Potential for a great series. However, I thought the piece on the South Bronx grossly misrepresented the impact Youth Ministries and its allies are having on the DOT. There IS an alternative on the table with the agency that would dismantle the Sheridan Expressway. I was disappointed in the way the community was portrayed (”poor little community group without a chance…keep marching”) – when, in fact, they’re really kickin’ ass, at the table with the power brokers and serving as a model of what community organizing can accomplish. I expected more….

05/21/2009 :: 12:50:08 PM
karen B Says:

It has been about 8 years since I lived in Portland. It looks like they are doing more interesting things to get people out of their cars. What was there a decade ago when I lived there I used and was grateful for. But I thought you were neglectful in not fulling stating the scope of the metro areas highway system – which your show made look like it doesn’t exist. Portland not only has a beltway, it has 2 beltways highways! And their beltways are slice up and ruin neighborhoods just like they do in every other metro area. Next time, please present the full facts.

05/21/2009 :: 01:19:59 PM
Allison Says:

Suburbia and its inhabitants have their blinders on. Having little to no interest in understanding their individual impact by consuming endlessly just so they can live in track homes, have kids, and have the same mundane life like their neighbors! Consumerism is a cancer, the couple reported in the Denver suburb stating “I’m ok with giving up nature and land to have a better life”… With ignorance like that, the cancer is uncurable. We must support and fight for a sustainable infrastructure or we will America will collapse.

05/21/2009 :: 05:04:01 PM
sestamibi Says:

This documentary was incredibly one-sided, but not surprisingly given the SWPL nature of PBS’ audience. I agree with most of the critics above, especially when regarding the subsidy given to mass transit (which I won’t compare to the subsidy given to support detached single-family home ownership since I don’t have any figures). The hatred of suburbia among our betters borders on pathological, evidenced by not one appearance by an articulate defender of suburbia such as Joel Kotkin or Randal O’Toole on the program.

However, I can add that I do have special insight into the locales since I lived in Portland in the 80’s (and my family has been there for years), and grew up in the Bronx not to far from the Sheridan Expwy segment locale.

Today I live in northern Nevada with a sweeping view of the Pine Nut Mountains. I like my car and my suburban tract house, and I challenge all the SWPL/PBS types who think this is so terrible to go live in the south Bronx themselves. I already paid my dues!!

As for Portland, it has always paid a high price for its hipness. Oregon has experienced chronic high unemployment (even in the best of times) because that’s what people there want. Those who want to preen about “sustainability” while riding their bikes, Tri-Met, or MAX still have to make a living, and it’s getting harder and harder to do it there.

Furthermore, while the self-congratulatory tone of smug Portlanders was celebrated, the producers conveniently declined to take a trip out to Beaverton, Clackamas County, or Vancouver just across the river (except, of course, at the urban growth limit boundary. Had they done so they would have seen sprawl and traffic congestion equal to anything they showed in Denver.

05/21/2009 :: 06:29:56 PM
Bob Says:

Portland and its 1800’s technology is humming right along with an unemployment rate that is 312th of 372 MSA’s….they have the same traffic congestion issues as every community except they have cute rail cars and wasteful bike lanes…get a clue – just like everything in life – enjoy in moderation – rail is not the answer….there is no right answer it is a very complex issue that requires balance in thought not 1800’s technology and bicycle lanes that yield virtually little economic/social benefit compared to the extraordinary costs….

05/21/2009 :: 07:29:14 PM
Watching PBS’s ‘Road To The Future’ » INFRASTRUCTURIST Says:

[...] followed the PBS series “Blueprint America” closely and last night tuned in for “Road To The Future,” a tale of three cities and how choices about transportation infrastructure in each case end [...]

05/22/2009 :: 09:47:52 AM
road to the future - Denver - Colorado (CO) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum Says:

[...] on pbs tonight comparing the transportation policy and history of denver, portland and new york? Road to the Future ~ Overview | Blueprint America I’m moving from NYC to denver and this show was a bit discouraging but i’d be interested in the [...]

05/22/2009 :: 11:16:12 AM
The Infrastructurist | Watching PBS’s ‘Road To The Future’ Says:

[...] followed the PBS series “Blueprint America” closely and last night tuned in for “Road To The Future,” a tale of three cities and how choices about transportation infrastructure define the [...]

05/22/2009 :: 04:52:40 PM
privat ist anders » Blog Archive » Oh Portland Says:

[...] There is, among others, also a fight on the future of infrastructure in the US. And in the midlle of the quagmire: Portland, OR. Back in the 1970s, Portland chose a different apporach: instead of taking more federal money on extending the Highway system, the city developed a tough urbanzation plan including public transportation. (For Europeans this might still seem cute and small, but still! For a comparison, see this PBS-documentary.) [...]

05/22/2009 :: 04:52:53 PM
Alison Says:

I agree with many of the posts here that this documentary was very disappointing. Not only did I feel it left out vital information about all three cities, everything was also very one sided. The producers knew what they wanted to say before they began filming and only bothered to include information that would prove their point without representing what was truly happening in each city. In Denver, we have the FasTracks program to extend light rail lines to the suburbs. Due to problems with funding, some of the rail lines may have to be scaled back, but original plans called for extending the light rail to Highlands Ranch. Many of the commuters in Highlands Ranch already utilize the light rail system to get to work from “park and rides” in Littleton since Denver is also currently working on tearing out existing surface parking lots for new buildings.
It also amazes me how many people are so quick to criticize and deride the people who choose to live in Highlands Ranch, when so many people live in similar places. Highlands Ranch is not unique, yet it is vilified simply because it is the largest master planned community in the country. I grew up in the Ranch and I was able to walk to school, the park and the grocery store, just as I do now from my apartment in downtown Denver. I understand that there are many problems with the way suburbs currently sprawl across the landscape, but that simply means that we need to try and find better ways to plan our suburbs. Americans have the luxury of vast amounts of open space on which we will have to continue to build homes for an ever increasing population. Our goal then, should be to build new suburbs in a more sustainable, and less isolated, pattern and begin to retrofit our older suburbs so that they will become strong and sustainable communities.

05/23/2009 :: 11:37:28 PM
Steven Vance Says:

Does anyone have any more information about the portion of this episode about Portland Iron Works using Czech tram technology to build their trams for Portland and other cities in the United States?

05/26/2009 :: 11:48:09 AM
Jacob’s Golden Update: Denver and Golden Featured in Upcoming PBS Documentary on Sprawl « Jacob Smith for Golden Says:

[...] America: Road to the Future” series and a preview of this week’s show on the “Blueprint America” web site.  The film is highlighted on the cover of the most recent Rocky Mountain PBS monthly guide (if you [...]

05/26/2009 :: 03:10:54 PM
Robin Says:

I work in the transportation sector in the Denver area and to focus on the development of Highlands Ranch back in the 1970s does a huge disservice to the Denver metro area. The Denver region does not “spit” on transit. As other commenters have stated, there is a huge investment going on throughout the Denver metro area to expand existing light rail service, to increase devlopment around current and future LRT stations, and the area already has an extensive and highly successful bus system. It just won an award as the “best” transit system in North America last year, and that’s not the first time it has done so in the recent past. Yes, almost all transit systems are facing touch financial times, but so are almost all public, and many private, organzations, along with much of the rest the US. Biking and walking are receiving much more attention and support from all levels of governments. It’s tough to turn 50 plus years of investment in major highways and suburban sprawl into a whole new approach to community building, but much of the Denver metro area, certainly including Denver itself, is making significant headdway, far more than many other major cities, including those in the East, Midwest, and the South, that I visit around the country as part of my job in transportation. The Denver area has nothing to apologize for and much to admire and emulate.

05/27/2009 :: 12:10:25 PM
Loras Says:

Urban Sprawl is National; Wisconsin has lost 1/3 of its farmland to sprawl. Governor Jim Doyle is in an effort to buy-back developers rights. California: they’re running out of water as fast as land — the latter depleting the former — with little action for sustainablity. On and On the examples go.
The American Dream was for a little white house and picket fence; that dream became today’s nightmare when housing square footage and acre lots ran out of Levittown and into the American Countryside. There is a solution, it begins with extablishing urban and rural/urban population density standards. Realize that cars and inefficient housing are the problem, not the solution. The Future is: Infill and Refill.

06/14/2009 :: 02:43:20 AM
Nouvelles d’un Monde sans voitures - Juin 2009 Says:

[...] – En route vers le futur Ce documentaire passe en revue les choix d’infrastructure aux États-Unis, et leurs futurs impacts sur la vie de tous les jours. Dans trois grandes villes – Denver, New York et Portland, banlieues incluses – en tenant compte de leurs potentiels et contraintes, le documentaire examine comment les autorités locales et fédérales devront gérer une Amérique grandissante, grâce à des politiques de transports innovants et soutenables. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/blueprintamerica/reports/road-to-the-future/overview/549 [...]

06/16/2009 :: 12:09:56 PM
lunati Says:

A Zen Buddhist would say: Look where there are no potholes!

06/16/2009 :: 04:30:10 PM
thomas Says:

The train/streetcar build-up is all developer and construction hype. If we really want an awesome transportation solution that is both efficient and cheap we should take a look at the collectivo taxis of latin america.

09/25/2009 :: 05:45:18 PM
links for 2009-09-25 « Lasting Impression Says:

[...] Road to the Future ~ Overview | Blueprint America Over the next 40 years, America’s population will grow by more than an estimated 130 million people – most will settle in or near the country’s major population centers. At the same time, an unprecedented multi-billion dollar public works investment has just been made by the federal government to rebuild both the weakened economy and stressed national infrastructure. And, Congress is about to consider a transportation bill that will determine the course of the nation’s highways and transit for years to come. [...]