Park(ing) Day is an international, grass-roots demonstration of the wasted potential in American cities represented by surface parking.
Cleveland, Ohio had its biggest demonstration ever today, with five different pop-up “parks” on Prospect Avenue downtown.
I recorded this video for posterity.

Hope you like it!
-A.S.
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Rust belt cities have numerous neighborhoods that are sometimes called “transitional.” Unfortunately, its not always clear which direction they are transitioning. On one hand, these neighborhoods often offer proximity to downtown or another immobile amenity such as waterfront or a university. This makes them desirable to young professionals, couples without children, and some parents who choose to raise their children in an urban setting. On the other hand, these neighborhoods have far more housing units than households due to decades of sprawl and filtering. This keeps rents low and means the neighborhoods cannot offer the exclusivity always found in gentrified core neighborhoods of the coastal cities.

This video explains the construction of Climb So Ill, a rock climbing gym constructed in the city of St. Louis in a formerly abandoned industrial building.

The guy who sent me this, Adam Koberna of Walltopia, said his company is looking to build gyms like this throughout the industrial Midwest.

I have long felt that bicycle commuting during the evening rush hour was more stressful and perilous than my morning ride. While motorists tend to be more wary in the morning due to the presence of school children and buses, the evening commute tends to feel a bit like a free-for-all, as if all motorists were trying to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 at the exact same time. Well…now I have definitive data to back my up my intuition. It turns out that 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m IS the most dangerous time period of the day to be a bicyclist out on the roadways.

For a second, there was a it looked like cycling in Cleveland had arrived. A little corner of downtown has been turned into Portland, with a green, two-way cycle track — the first space ever downtown just for those on two wheels.
And then, just like cheap campaign buzz, it was over. But that’s the way it was planned — Cleveland’s one-week, pop-up cycle track. So what did we learn from the experience? Here is the video evidence:

Pop Up Rockwell from KSU CUDC on Vimeo.
I have word from some authorities on …

At the conclusion of this post is a list of Rust Belt metropolitan areas where clusters of bicycle-friendly organizations (communities, colleges, and businesses) have agglomerated. The numbers are based on those organizations which have been recognized as “bicycle-friendly” by the League of American Bicyclists. These clusters are important for several reasons:

The data shows that more places are “getting it,” not just “progressive” enclaves.
They show that coordinated efforts are taking place in a variety of metropolitan areas, and broadly within each metropolitan area, not just in lone islands of bike friendliness.
They …

Monday evening I had the honor to join approximately 100 fellow participants, planners, partners, and stakeholders from throughout Greater Lansing at a kick-off meeting for the Mid-Michigan Program for Greater Sustainability at East Lansing’s Hannah Community Center. Partners in the program include the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission, Lansing Area Economic Partnership, Michigan State University Land Policy Institute, Michigan Energy Options, the Michigan Fitness Foundation, Greater Lansing Housing Coalition, the Mid-Michigan Environmental Action Council, and CAM-TV.
The four-hour event showcased the nine sustainability projects that will be part of the three-year effort …

Founded in 1994, Share-a-Bike is an East Lansing, Michigan-based charity that receives old, unused, discarded, and donated bicycles. Whenever practical, these bicycles are completely refurbished and then donated to the underprivileged in the community, including the homeless, new immigrants, and the poor. Last Saturday, I had the honor to work with them collecting bicycles at a local spring recycling event in the community.
For many of the recipients, the gift of an operable bicycle may be their lifeline of last resort. Either they cannot afford to purchase or maintain an automobile, may …

Announcement of sorts: a national speaker on the topic of transportation and cities is coming to Cleveland on May 9th (Bike Month) and Rust Wire is helping spread the word.
The event, to be held at the City Club on May 9th, will feature Mark Gorton and a panel of local decision makers.
Mark Gorton is the founder of Openplans, a group of New York City-based nonprofits that are using technology to help solve the problems facing American cities. The Openplans group of organizations includes Streetsblog, Streetfilms, and …

Good news, Clevelandphiles/cyclonerds.
Clevelandtown now has a green, two-way cycle track downtown. This lovely example of sustainable transportation infrastructure is to remain on display all week, educating the local populace about the latest in transportation innovation and helping build awareness of the city’s new complete streets policy.
Check out these beautiful pictures:

This project cost $35,000 to put together (grants) and was designed by the brilliant students at Kent State University’s Urban Design Center, a group that is behind approximately 50 percent of the cool things happening in Cleveland.
Yay, us!!
Also, I asked an …