This article focuses on recent federal spending on projects caused by Congress passing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) in November 2021. Money was given to the Infrastructure Project Assistance Grants Program (Mega) to allocate to projects that apply for federal aid. The author argues that the application used by Mega maintained a status quo of helping already established areas just get more money. The application relied on good information and organization. This money also only went to highly complex infrastructure projects. This article also mentions in the end that administration has already recognized the need for a more streamlined application in order to help more communities.

The article begins by addressing the existence of eco-gentrification, where the addition of parks and green spaces to an area raises living costs and forces out low-income residents. Greenspace addition is not all negative, though, because parks are proven to significantly better physical and psychological health. The article specifically addresses the High Line in New York, a rail line that was shut down and abandoned, left to go green thanks to a neighborhood nonprofit maintaining the area. The researchers used regression analysis and determined that homes within 0.1 miles of the green space rose in value 35.3% more than homes over 0.1 miles away. Though the addition of the well-maintained green space was supposed to be a neighborhood amenity and a positive, it created financial strain for those living in the area who couldn’t afford to live there anymore. As people fight to spread parks’ benefits to everyone, they push people of lower socioeconomic status out of their homes and towns and only the upper-class benefit.

The authors of this article write about how accommodating for people who are alone in public can lead to a reduction in feeling loneliness. They talk about how things like benches and square tables can hint at how it is socially normative to be in public with other people, leading to increased feelings of aloneness. The article goes on to propose solutions like park chairs instead of benches, round instead of square tables, plants/shelves/bushes to reduce feelings of exposure, and more. It also goes on to mention how interactive spaces, like street gardening and open spaces to graffiti, can add belongingness. The goal of the article is to educate on how to create a more inviting space for everyone by including spaces to be alone. This is a form of accommodation that most won’t think of, but we need to keep in mind that there are people who would rather be alone than forced into social situations. We should accommodate everyone.

In this article, the author argues that e-bikes are not worth the benefits that are provided by them, and are instead a liability to their riders and the surrounding public. Referring to electric bicycles as the worst mixture of motorcycles and bicycles, the author states how e-bikes do not provide the exercise or safety that is found when riding a regular bicycle. One of the author's main arguments against the popular usage of e-bikes is the severity of crashes when they occur. E-bikes can average a speed of over 25mph, posing a threat to pedestrians and regular cyclists within their lane. A cyclist who spends a lot of money on a bike is considered to be an avid connoisseur of the sport, yet when someone purchases an e-bike, the feedback is mixed, from approval to disdain for moving into the “easier” side of biking. E-bikes are not gaining popularity, and rather than showing the connection between bicycles and motorcycles, they represent the divide.

In this article, the development of Stead Park in Washington DC's Dupont Circle neighborhood is analyzed through the lens of accessibility. After detailing the history of Stead Park and explaining its "evolution from dirt field to community staple," the author goes through exactly what "equitable park access" is supposed to entail. Jenkins argues that developing equitable parks "entails more than just meeting their needs; it also requires building a sense of identity and belonging," especially in neighborhoods that have typically suffered from systemic racism such as redlining. Jenkins then details the steps needed for a park to be successful: the conduction of extensive community outreach, the examination of thorough local data, the forging of local partnerships and the exploration of multiple funding streams, and the leveraging of temporary-to-permanent innovations are the critical needs for a park's success, according to "research from the Urban Institute." The author then finishes by giving the applied example of Stead Park's historical progression using these criteria, offering a contextualized result that may be copied by other cities struggling to improve the efficacy and utility of their green spaces. 

Within this article, Wartell asserts our public transportation aids white neighborhoods, much more than neighborhoods with people of color. In consequence, a multitude of people of color have limited access when commuting to work or trying to travel to services that benefit the public’s health. The author argues that the walkability of a neighborhood is one of the deciding factors that contribute to better public transit systems and that their research demonstrates that communities with predominantly residents of color have less walkability because of “higher speed limits, fewer street lights, and more police stops.” Due to the lack of walkability, Wartell advocates that the continuation of poor transportation systems should be fixed using the Bipartisan Infrastructure law that invests $550 billion in America’s infrastructure. 

In this article, Lydia Kenselaar discusses a new project that Alta is undertaking in Peoria, Arizona. Alta is a firm dedicated to implementing active transportation planning in US cities, and they have set their sights on solving urban heat islands in Peoria. Peoria had 70 days over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in 2020, and the city isn't well suited for the heat. Solutions proposed include increased tree coverage to created shaded and more pleasant streets, and prioritizing tree coverage in gaps so that people can access emergency cool centers easier. Alta is looking at redesigning a segment of street to create a pleasant public space that's resistant to urban heat and can be used comfortably in summer months. The article proposes that cities affected by urban heat should pursue solutions like this to make their cities more livable in the summer.

This book covers the history of De Jure segregation in the United States, especially related to home ownership and social mobility. It is a common held belief that racism exists through a sum of individual prejudices, but many fail to realize that there was explicitly and implicitly racist policy throughout much of the twentieth century that shaped the economic status of generations. The Federal Housing Administration refused to subsidize developments that were mixed-race or all African-American, making it much harder for African Americans to find housing in the post world war housing boom. This was combined with private actions such as restrictive racial covenants on homes (that prevented homeowners selling to anyone other than white families) which were enforced by states, and violence and terror inflicted upon those attempting to integrate that was all but sanctioned by local governments. These racist policies violated the 14th amendment rights of millions of Americans and we, as the people of the United States, must urge our leaders to right these wrongs. 

In this student news article at George Mason University, a GMU staff writer discusses how Mason’s Green and Gold Line can be improved for environmental sustainability. In research regarding bike and pedestrian infrastructure, it's difficult to balance the interests of non-motorists with one of the nation’s biggest student commuter populations. The most relevant solution to achieving environmental success is switching the GMU shuttles to electric buses once funding becomes available, and extended shuttle lines to the Blue and Silver lines of Washington DC’s commuter rail system Metrorail. As someone matriculating to this university, and planning to use their public transit provided, I will continue with my bike/pedestrian activism in achieving the goals outlined by Yu. 

This article gives a great overarching idea and outline for Bike Rodeos. They vary in many different ways but they always have the "rider check, bicycle check, and skills check." In other words, a safe helmet, a maintained bike, and basic handling skills.

My only personal disagreement comes from a part of the bike fitment section. This article claims that a proper saddle height should have both feet flat on the ground while sitting on the saddle. While this is great when starting to ride, it is far too low for a confident rider and is very uncomfortable on the rider's legs. The higher the saddle the easier the pedaling (up till your feet can't reach the pedals anymore)

This article is a very in-depth dive into what a Bike Rodeo involves and takes to run. Beginning with the target audience it states a range of Kindergarten to 14-year-olds. It then outlines a timeline (45 minutes in all is ideal), how to keep stations and activities flowing and interesting, registration and templates, bike inspection checklist (ABCF), road rules, proper equipment fitment, and community booths. It also describes on and off-road courses and addresses the question do these events actually work?

Muysken and Fears argue against the 2021 proposal for an expansion of I-526 Lowcountry Corridor in North Charleston. Hundreds of people are expected to be forced to relocate in the $3 billion dollar project, and 94% of them are minorities. The original highway was built decades ago with the Federal Highway Act, but this expansion, designed to relieve congestion, continues the legacy of African-American communities hit harder by infrastructure developments in an era where people are promising to reverse these issues. Several community members testify to feeling as though they are seen as a "point of least resistance." Adding more lanes is tried and true to not work to solve congestion, yet SCDOT marches on with the project. The article states the pan will take effect a few years after its finalization.

Alexa Gagosz analyzes the controversy surrounding a new Brown University student housing development in Providence through the lens of effects on residents of the area. The project will tear down some historic buildings and take away from the aesthetic of the area, but there are also effects on homeowner's property taxes, ones that will continue as Brown expands its presence in the area. The article poses the negative effect Brown has on the city, possessing $7.9 billion in tax exempt property that would net $48 million in property taxes annually if Brown were not exempt. Instead, homeowners and landowners have to pay the largest property tax rate in the state, often affecting renters in cases of leased property. The article reflects on the positive contributions Brown has made to Providence and Rhode Island through the work and research it has done, but calls for change in how the college gives back to its home.

This article details different activities to do during bike rodeos. Specifically, it focuses on on the bike games. These games are much more fun than lectures and keep kids much more engaged. It is missing at least one station for safety and maintenance but that's easy enough to draft up. The point system is also a great idea if the kids are super engaged. Otherwise, it's probably an unnecessary extra step.

Yonah Freemark asserts through this blog post that the area in which transit stops were located determined how much transit declined during the pandemic at these stops. His team studied five rail transit systems in some of the nations largest urban centers and found significant results. Areas of lower-income lost 55% of their riders while areas of highest income lost 70% of riders. Areas of larger Black population lost on average 57% of riders, while areas of the least Black population lost 63% of riders. Areas that are common employment centers, like office districts and downtowns, also lost more riders on average as white collar workers were more likely to be able to work from home. The pandemic affected certain groups disproportionately, and this continues to show in public transit, but several transit systems are working to change their structure to help core riders in areas that retained more people.

In this article, Allen-Price explores the nature of APS (Accessible Pedestrian Signal) use in San Francisco. Many standard crosswalks have visual indicators of when to cross, but this does not help the vision impaired. In San Francisco, and more widely in Europe and Australia, they have differening speeds of clicking that indicate when to cross, as well as a tactile arrow on the crosswalk button to know the direction of the crossing, and the button will vibrate and different intensities to match the clicking for those that are both hearing and vision impaired. This makes crosswalks and pedestrian infrastructure as a whole much more accessible to all abilities. There are currently 283 intersections like this in San Francisco, and more are requested.

This article discusses privately owned parks and the environmental, funding, and inclusion concerns they cause. The writers address the expense of privately owned parks and how higher-income neighborhoods have them, which creates issues for lower-income, disadvantaged neighborhoods.  The study to understand the impact of privately owned parks in New Urban Communities was done in 12 New Urban communities with privately owned parks in the Colorado Front Range. They compared accessible public and private parks in New Urban developments to median parks per 1,000 people of block groups as well as comparing median household income and percentage of non-Hispanic Whites demographics in the New Urban community and the city. They found that almost all of the privately owned parks in the study raised environmental privilege concerns. They also found that affordable housing initiatives caused a significant rise in the socioeconomic diversity in the privately-owned parks while Denver's inclusionary housing ordinance did not.

In this article, Jeelani discusses the construction of a bike/ped infrastructure project in Minneapolis called the Samatar Crossing. The Samatar Crossing repurposes a highway ramp, making a path that spans across I-35 and directly connects Cedar-Riverside to Downtown Minneapolis. It includes separate pathways and pedestrian scale lighting, and public art was commissioned to make it a more welcoming space. Hussein Samatar (the pathway's namesake) was a key figure in the significant Somali-American community in Cedar-Riverside, and was one of the first Somali-American's to be elected to public office. The pathway was named after him because he worked to bridge gaps between the immigrant community of Cedar-Riverside and the mainstream, which the bridge does (quite literally) for the first time since the Interstate's construction.

This article addresses how efforts to increase physical activity have both short-term and long-term improvements. The researchers assess the amount of moderate-vigorous physical activity for 811 grade 7-8 students in London, Ontario, Canada. Through surveys sent out to parents, they found that students with two or more recreational facilities had the highest physical activity levels. Land use mix and park size were not significant factors influencing physical activity. The study did have several limitations. For one, the cross-sectional design prevents causal inferences. They also did not take the quality of facilities, parks, and green spaces into account. The information was also self-reported so accuracy is not totally reliable. Lastly, the sample of kids was not completely random since the parents had to give consent and only 49% of the original 1666 agreed to participate.

This article addresses how urban parks help urban environments. Children especially benefit from green spaces since it’s a place to meet people, form social experiences, and stay physically active. The researchers studied accessibility for children (7-16 years old) in Montreal Island, Quebec, Canada since they cannot drive and guardians may restrict their transportation in other ways. They took information about travelers (i.e. age, gender, income level, household type, and main occupation) as well as information about transportation (i.e. ownership of driver's license and mode of travel). The study found that there is much higher accessibility when there are more parks in the area. Kids without parks and facilities cannot use them, and, since socioeconomic factors are a factor in the dispersal of parks, people from a family of lower socioeconomic status are less likely to have accessible parks and green spaces.

Jenkins explains how school boundaries are drawn and their often negative effects on equity and accessibility, disadvantaging low-income and marginalized communities. He highlights the way a new incredibly racially divided school boundary was drawn in Atlanta, (John Lewis elementary school, ironically) and how this was due to the school board having rules in place to completely ignore race entirely. He then asserts that unless districts work to actively undo the racial discrimination of previous boundary drawing, and only draw to minimize school change or fix overcrowded schools, they will only perpetuate the racial boundaries already established. He finishes by highlighting work that Minneapolis Public Schools is doing to actively undo school segregation and recommending that districts not ignore race but include it to strive for equality.

This paper covers the rapid urbanization taking place and the positive impact parks have on people’s well-being and health. The researchers discuss access to parks as perceived accessibility (i.e. quality, diversity, size, age, income, safety, and cultural concerns) and geographic accessibility (i.e. distance). The researchers used a study of three parks from two suburbs each in Brisbane, Australia with the factor separating them being socioeconomic status: Graceville, the higher average income suburb, and Salisbury, the lower average income suburb. The resulting data found that Graceville residents were more likely to respond that it was very easy to walk to parks near them, and Salisbury residents were more likely to have mixed responses ranging from very easy to very difficult. The perceived accessibility was significantly related to income, health, and language spoken at home, but not related to age, sex, and education. They also found that, though socio-personal things did influence people’s perception and use of the park, physical accessibility was significantly more important. This is essential for my research regarding marketing since it researches how people perceive access. The issue of people not perceiving greenspaces as accessible is one marketing works to solve.

Bliss writes a piece detailing the terrible wayfinding Philadelphia's transport system (SEPTA, the sixth largest transport system in the US by ridership) has, and the ways the city aims to solve it. SEPTA is so inefficient that it has become a joke for this by the city's residents, and over 40% of native Philadelphians responded that they were unfamiliar with one of the lines. SEPTA was formed by a conglomeration of several different modes of transport (underground train, elevated train, interurban train, and streetcar remnants) that all fall under many different names and signage types. The new prosed system aims to simplify each line in every system to letters and colors in order to make the system more readable and navigable. With larger and more clear signs in the stations and a more streamlined map of the system, SEPTA aims to make people feel safe and confident in their ability to get from place to place.

This paper addresses the dramatic rise in urbanization and how parks and green-spaces positively impact public health along with many other things. The purpose of the article is to compare the impact of perceived accessibility and geographic access to parks in urban environments while understanding people’s choices and behavior. The researchers used a study of three parks from two suburbs each in Brisbane, Australia with the factor separating them being socioeconomic status: Graceville, the higher average income suburb, and Salisbury, the lower average income suburb. The article uses the theory of Reasoned Action and the Theory of Planned Behavior as the basis for the researchers’ psychological understanding of people’s decisions. The results found that perceived access both directly and indirectly affected park use more so than the other factors tested for, although this remains in its limited scope of two Australian suburbs and results could vary along cultural lines (eg. Europe vs Asia).

Alexandra Lange asserts the need for more accessible public places for teenage girls. She quotes from interviews of several important figures including leaders of teenage interest groups, urban designers, and parks experts, using their testimony to display the problems. Teenagers are seen as invaders and outsiders at playgrounds, and the parks built for adolescents serve masculine audiences (skate parks, basketball courts, etc); girls above the age of 8 are 4 times less likely to use parks than boys and 40% of young women aged 11-21 claim feeling unsafe outdoors based on studies done by interviewees. Teenage girls are often overlooked in the public sphere, and by actively working to make public spaces more inclusive and equitable, especially for adolescents at a crucial social period is necessary to have accessible, open, and vibrant communities.

Hamil Pearsall and Jillian K. Eller research the where, when, and what of the "green space paradox." The green space paradox references when efforts to improve communities that have been underserved displacing residents. The authors studied 18 greenspaces in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the city's "Greenworks Philadelphia" sustainability initiative. The information from this study is important for avoiding gentrification when creating and renovating parks. It also educates about the impacts and differences of public/private/non-profit managed and cared for parks.

The author recounts the history of the High Line Park in New York and how it can be used as an example of what not to do. She points out how the project rapidly gentrified the area and, instead of serving the community surrounding it, attracted millions of tourists. The group that made it didn’t really care about the surrounding people and, instead of asking for their actual opinions on whether or not it should happen, asked about color preferences and other inconsequential things. Once installed, several trendy clothiers and restaurants popped up and pushed out the locally owned businesses. The goal of this article isn’t to dissuade every fixing or renovating unused areas, but to encourage people to think about the impact their actions might have and to properly counter them before they’re a problem. It also encourages those in the area to fight for what they know to be best for them, stating, “If you’re not part of the fight, you might not be living here in the future.”