Comments on: Overview

By: links for 2009-09-25 « Lasting Impression

links for 2009-09-25 « Lasting Impression — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:45:18 +0000

[...] 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. [...]

By: thomas

thomas — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:30:10 +0000

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.

By: lunati

lunati — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:09:56 +0000

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

By: Nouvelles d’un Monde sans voitures - Juin 2009

Nouvelles d’un Monde sans voitures - Juin 2009 — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 06:43:20 +0000

[...] – 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 [...]

By: Loras

Loras — Wed, 27 May 2009 16:10:25 +0000

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.

By: Robin

Robin — Tue, 26 May 2009 19:10:54 +0000

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.

By: Jacob’s Golden Update: Denver and Golden Featured in Upcoming PBS Documentary on Sprawl « Jacob Smith for Golden

Tue, 26 May 2009 15:48:09 +0000

[...] 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 [...]

By: Steven Vance

Steven Vance — Sun, 24 May 2009 03:37:28 +0000

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?

By: Alison

Alison — Fri, 22 May 2009 20:52:53 +0000

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.

By: privat ist anders » Blog Archive » Oh Portland

privat ist anders » Blog Archive » Oh Portland — Fri, 22 May 2009 20:52:40 +0000

[...] 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.) [...]