As Louisville's ORBP strives to build an LA-sized Spaghetti Junction...
Live near a freeway? Heart disease risk may be higher:
"Los Angeles residents living near freeways experience a hardening of the arteries that leads to heart disease and strokes at twice the rate of those who live farther away, a study has found."
Chicago urban planning blogger, Aaron Renn wrote a guest column for Portland's newspaper and uses 8664 as an example of the city's planning impact on other areas across the country. Read Picture Perfect Portland?
Renn's blog, the Urbanophile covered Louisville's Bridges issue back in June of 2009. Louisville: The case for 8664
This is too good not to pass along. View it here.
Compliments of Brokensidewalk.com.
To create a great city, there must be balance. One of our favorite bloggers comments on the need for both highways and transit.
"I know there are a lot of people out there that are anti-highway. But a lot of the arguments around it relate to local land use and development patterns and ignores freight. Clearly, rail freight and intermodal transport are growing at a rapid clip and need investment. But trucking is always going to be a very important part of our national economy and keeping freight moving on a national and regional level is critical. For a big rig, every hour of delay costs about $67 - that adds up quickly."
[8664 note: Not to mention the air pollution.]
Today's New York Times article about Providence, Rhode Island:
This city, which once moved rivers to create a new urban design, is now moving a major highway away from its downtown and opening up approximately 20 acres for development. This newly accessible area is within walking distance of Providence's historic waterfront and commercial downtown.
It continues:
But it is already generating considerable excitement among city and state officials, who see a rare opportunity to strengthen the city and state's economies and to connect neighborhoods to the Providence River waterfront, which has been cut off for years.
Plan our community around cars... Plan our community around people..
get more cars. get more people.
Placemaking is not difficult, it just requires a new way of thinking. PPS.org
Today Streetblog.org ran a story entitled: Fighting to take back Lousiville's Waterfront. Streetsblog is a daily news source, online community and political mobilizer for the Livable Streets movement.
Today's Brokensidewalk post tackles some very important issues about peoples misperceptions about 8664 and the growing body of evidence to support "highway relocation". Here are just a few:
"the 8664.org proposal isn't exactly a highway removal as much as a highway relocation."
"As interest in the city and urban living continues to build, the prospects for quality of life increases, development opportunity, all while maintaining a functioning transportation system are catching the eye of innovative leaders and cities."
"One of the great things about the 8664.org plan is that it doesn't just solve a transportation problem in a more fiscally responsible manner, but also drastically raises Louisville's urban standard of living and provides for huge potential gains in community and real-estate development."
And much more. Heading over to brokensidewalk.com and read the entire post.
Brokensidewalk.com has compiled More evidence 8664 is a smart idea. Be sure to read it, but then pass it on to your Metro Council representative. They need to hear from you.
If you care about the future growth and character of Louisville, then you should be an avid Brokensidewalk.com reader. The site covers the latest real-estate deal, the most up-to-date project announcements, and all the neighborhood news related to real estate development and living in our fine city. It's what you want and Louisville needs.
Aaron Renn is an award-winning independent urban affairs thinker and strategist based in Chicago and Indianapolis. He writes a blog titled The Urbanophile which provides insightful commentary on Midwestern Cities. We invited Renn to Louisville to take a look around and give us his thoughts on our alternative to the Ohio River Bridges Project. Read Louisville: The Case for 8664.
