News, Links, and Other Views

City of San Diego

  • New Council President Sherri Lightner was a guest on the most recent Voice of San Diego podcast where she talked about One Paseo, the recently approved mixed-use project in Carmel Valley. “Her biggest bones to pick with the development surround its (non)connections to transit and its walk- and bike-ability.”
  • A father and mother were walking with their 5-month old baby at Cañon Street and Catalina Boulevard when the father and baby daughter were hit by a SUV. The driver of the SUV has not been charged. The baby girl, Juniper Aavang, died. In response to the fatality, the city has cut down the Palm Tree that apparently was “blocking” the SUV driver’s view.
  • Residents in OB in response to the above tragedy are petitioning Councilmember Lorie Zapf to close Cañon Street from Talbot Street to Catalina Boulevard.
  • The city has decided to shut down the Cañon Pocket Park.
  • The Wounded Warrior Project Soldier Ride will arrive in San Diego in a few days for a four-day rehabilitative cycling event.The ride brings injured veterans from across the country together for a long weekend focused on physical health and wellness, camaraderie, and healing.
  • KUSI’s Turko has been alerted to the 25th Street renovation project that’s been dragging on for months in Golden Hill.
  • What might have been: a bitter sweet story about what the short-lived Civic Innovation Lab could have been.
  • Have you signed up for Bikes and Beer and the Après Festival? You really should.
  • In case you missed the news, we have some great representation in Kyle Heiskala and Michael Brennan at Uptown Planners.
  • How do we get new infrastructure for all transit modes? Maybe by raising the gas tax for the first time since 1993
  • Circulate San Diego reminds our mayor, that while fixing potholes are important, saving lives is even more important. We endorse this message.

County of San Diego

  • Encinitas‘ La Costa Avenue will soon get a bike lane and a “walking lane”.
  • Highway 101 in Encinitas will get a segment of the Coastal Rail Trail

California

  • The Sacramento Bee has a writeup about the cost of driver externalities that is carbon emissions, thanks to California’s cap-and-trade program. Not mentioned are the costs of lives lost due to careless driving.
  • The $1.1 billion dollar 405 “congestion relief project”, that introduced the world to how bikes could beat airplanes, is a complete failure.
  • After years of advocacy by the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, San Francisco’s Transportation Agency unanimously voted to support protected bike lanes on Polk Street

Elsewhere

  • Bicycle Tour companies are finding that seniors enjoy riding doing bicycle tours if there are dedicated bicycle facilities in which to enjoy them.
  • How can community planning be made better? How about form-based codes? San Diego’s County Supervisors have previously approved form-based codes for Ramona and Alpine
  • Cities and businesses are discovering that cycling pays.
  • A new app promises to alert drivers to the presence of bicycle riders.
  • James Siegal makes a case to put kids first, in envisioning the future of cities.
  • Florida officials have banned the term “climate change”
  • Citybike in NYC is expanding and will now serve public housing locations.
  • Seattle’s Mayor Ed Murray says “More Choices Means Fewer Cars on Our Streets”.
  • The Terrible 60-Year-Old Parking Advice That’s Still Haunting America” (and San Diego)
  • Sprawl Costs the Public More Than Twice as Much as Compact Development