Welcome to the week.
Today’s Monday Roundup is sponsored by The eBike Store, Portland’s original all-electric bike shop. Stop in for great service and a selection of quality e-bike brands.
Here are the most notable items we came across in the past seven days…
Different coast, same battle: This disagreement over free, on-street car parking in a neighborhood in Queens, New York made me think of what PBOT is about to do on North Willamette. Gird yourself for petitions and read this one to ready your responses. (NY Times)
Star Wars urbanism: This is a fun and bitingly funny sendup of the battle that exploded the Death Star, “the first-ever pedestrian-only planet.” (McSweeney’s)
E-bike lessons from Europe: With e-bikes models now the majority in many of European’s cycling capitals, it’s well worth your time to read this interview with two experts on the topic. They cover some very important questions that U.S. policymakers need to keep top-of-mind, like the vital importance of subsidies, the need to focus on safe infrastructure, problems with speedy bikes, and more. (Bloomberg)
Long distance emissions: New research from the UK reveals the massive emissions reductions that can be gained from focusing on ways to encourage people to take fewer long-distance flights and car trips and the analysis is yet another vote for a more complete rail network. (Science Daily)
Corking consequences: Chicago’s vibrant Critical Mass ride has been met with violent rage by some drivers who have acted out against people corking traffic along the route. (Streetsblog Chicago)
School streets: This video of how school streets work in Ghent, shot during the recent Velo-city Conference, gives us a great primer on how easy and impactful temporary carfree streets near schools can be. (Streetsblog)
Post-freeway era: A project in Detroit is eerily similar to the I-5 Rose Quarter project where you’ve got a DOT trying to restore a thriving Black community it nearly destroyed with a freeway project and now wants to “reconnect” and restore the neighborhood with a less intrusive surface street. (NPR)
Another rebate frenzy: Minnesotans were so eager for e-bike rebates they became the latest in a long line of city residents to crash a website set up to hand out the subsidy vouchers. (Star Tribune)
Gamer urbanism: A game designer from the Netherlands is creating, “Car Park Capital,” a satirical, Sim City-like quest where gamers have to build a pro-car city despite how terrible the outcomes are, and use in-game propaganda to keep people convinced it makes sense. (PC Gamer)
‘Hill bomb’ enforcement: Looks like San Francisco has their own version of Portland’s ‘Zoobomb’ but in that city the cops and participants have clashed and a showdown seems imminent. (SF Gate)
Illegal kiss: During a recent time trial stage of the Tour de France, one of the riders (who happens to live just off the course) stopped to hug and kiss his wife. It was a beautiful moment, but earned the rider a fine from race organizers for, “unseemly or inappropriate behaviour.” (BBC)
Thanks to everyone who sent in links this week. The Monday Roundup is a community effort, so please feel free to send us any great stories you come across.