Weekend links: CaBi CaBi everywhere

by Eric Fidler • April 30, 2011 12:01 pm

New CaBi station at 7th & F Sts NW. Photo by the author.

CaBi in your CBA: Some developers will install CaBi stations as part of their community benefits agreement. The $50,000 price tag for each station is about equal to the cost of building a single parking space. (Housing Complex)

CaBi in the CBD: Capital Bikeshare installed new stations at 7th and F and 17th and K yesterday.

Arlington businesses fine with CaBi: Despite the Arlington GOP accusing CaBi of hurting small business by replacing 8 parking spaces with stations, business owners actually don't oppose the change at all. (TBD)

How to get parents to let kids walk or bike to school?: Fairfax County wants to reduce the number of children driven to school to reduce congestion. But parental attitudes are as much an obstacle as the walking and biking infrastructure. (Oakton Patch)

Neighborhoods exacerbate kids' obesity: Overweight kids face a host of problems, including several of the built environment. Neighborhoods lack healthy food options, and unsafe or poorly designed neighborhoods discourage physical activity. (WAMU)

DC lacking public spaces: Many of DC's neighborhoods are distinctly lacking in small public spaces that in other cities are interspersed through out the urban fabric. Instead, the city has relied on privately provided pocket parks and plazas. (RPUS)

Reward for not using Gehry: A philanthropist has offered $300 million to any city that builds a major concert hall but doesn't hire Frank Gehry to build it. His distinctive but controversial style has become extremely popular for cultural centers worldwide. (WSJ)

US exceptional, and not in a good way: Despite having more highways, the US . Despite having the world's largest economy, the US is investing very little in transit and also not maintaining its existing roads. What to do? Raise new revenues and invest more in sustainable transportation systems. (Economist, Veronica Davis)

And...: In WWII, a war plane factory in California camouflaged itself as a subdivision. (Barnstormers, Stephen Miller) ... It may be cheaper to buy than to rent in DC. (Post) ... Some legislators want to address distracted walking. (CBS)

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6 comments

Tags: architecture, Arlington, California, Capital Bikeshare, community benefits, DC, distracted driving, downtown DC, Fairfax, food, Frank Gehry, gas taxes, history, links, parking, parks, public health, public spaces, real estate, Republicans, Safe Routes to School, traffic, transportation financing, Virginia, youth

Eric Fidler has lived in DC and suburban Maryland his entire life. He likes long walks along the Potomac and considers the L'Enfant Plan an elegant work of art. He also blogs at Left for LeDroit, LeDroit Park's (only) blog of record.

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If Fairfax wants kids to school, they need to start building schools that you can walk to. I live between a primary, middle and high school, and all are located on primary roads in a neighborhoods with massive superblocks and very little interconnection.

by Jasper on Apr 30, 2011 2:51 pm

I was curious to learn more about developers and CaBi stations, but was that meant to link to a 6-month old article?

by Jacques Arsenault on Apr 30, 2011 3:13 pm

@ Jasper:

They also need to reconsider the way in which they zone people for schools. I live maybe fifteen minutes' walk from a middle school (I'm a slow walker - most people can probably do it in ten). Instead, had I gone public, I would have been zoned to ANOTHER middle school which is about a mile away, and to which I cannot walk at all. Why? Near as I can figure, it's due to the location of the elementary school to which I was zoned. Never mind the fact that mine is a pretty significant residential development.

by Ser Amantio di Nicolao on Apr 30, 2011 4:54 pm

Fairfax County did not want to burden developers with costs for sidewalks.

by tmtfairfax on Apr 30, 2011 5:52 pm

I can't stand pocket parks. I wish they would do away with them. The only ones to use them are bums.

by blogo on May 1, 2011 3:00 am

Um, sorry to be dense...is the Gehry article for real or is it just a (funny) rant by that WSJ critic?

by DavidDuck on May 1, 2011 9:44 pm