Kaid Benfield

Press release: Beth Osborne announced as President and CEO of Smart Growth America - Smart Growth America

Wow! Congratulations to @smartgrowthusa.bsky.social for hiring @bethosborne.bsky.social as its new president and CEO. What a wonderful choice! Godspeed, Beth! www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hu...

Apparently, no one seems particularly bothered, but for the past few days, Trump has been talking repeatedly about being a dictator.

If Americans don’t want that, the window to stop him is closing quickly.

Yes.

Trump Administration Orders Work Halted on Wind Farm That Is Nearly Built

This is just so self-defeating for our country. Creating complete unpredictability for an infant industry

Killing an infant in its cradle…really people??

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/22/c...

Looking at some of the replies to this post, it's notable how different the approach is in cycling+walking-friendly countries like the Netherlands + Sweden to that in most countries that face these weather conditions.

Excellent response!

JFC what are we even doing? This neighborhood park is treeless and desolate so it can be a parking lot once a year?

Cartoon illustrating, how traffic induces more traffic. “There is too much traffic for Billy to walk to school, so we drive him.”

As our kids go #BackToSchool, never forget that we ARE the traffic that we’re afraid of. If more kids walked, biked or rode transit to school, it would erase a massive number of car trips each day, and our kids would be safer, healthier and better at school. HT Ian Lockwood.

Spread the word.

Apparently getting disaster aid has become a privilege in the US

This is an important piece of evidence. US drivers need to slow TF down, especially on streets and roads where people live:

It was awesome collaborating with @tomflood.bsky.social on this project. So cool to see this up!

White sands New Mexico

Wow!

RFK Jr. Vowed to Find the Environmental Causes of Autism. Then He Shut Down Research Trying to Do Just That. While touting a $50 million initiative to identify the causes of autism, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is helping lead an administration that is rolling back protections against pollution and toxic chemicals,...

NEW: For years, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has pushed discredited theories linking vaccines to autism.

Now, scientists studying the condition fear he has preconceived notions that will harm the field and taint new funding for research.
propub.li/41JYl7o

Want to Stay Healthy? Move to a Walkable City. A new study illustrates how a city’s specific infrastructure contributes to its inhabitants’ overall health and wellbeing

This suggests that not just personal preferences, but the “built environment” (i.e. the layout and planning of a city), plays a considerable role in the walking habits of a given individual.
#MobilityIsEquity
www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adve...

The Trump administration is intent on destroying U.S. higher education, which has for more than half a century been a beacon to the world.

60 percent of the world’s land area is in a precarious state 15.08.2025 – A new study maps the planetary boundary of “functional biosphere integrity” in spatial detail and over centuries. It finds that 60 percent of global land areas are now already outside the...

New study: 60% of the world’s land area is in a precarious state, putting at risk the ability of the plant world to acquire enough energy through photosynthesis to maintain the material flows of carbon, water and nitrogen that support the ecosystems.
www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/late...

This, too, is America:

More Ottawa drivers taking the chance to drive without insurance, OPP say Ontario Provincial Police say since Jan. 1, officers in Ottawa have issued 336 charges to drivers for operating a vehicle without insurance. Twenty-five charges were issued to drivers without insuranc...

Terrible public transit forces people into car ownership whether they can afford it or not.

Owning a car costs $16,000 a year of which $3-4,000 is insurance. Now hundreds of Ottawa drivers are citing the high cost of living as reason for not renewing their insurance.

www.ctvnews.ca/ottawa/artic...

So sad and, frankly, outrageous that someone with these violations on his record is allowed to drive:

23.1% of principle residences in Paris are social housing. Keeping homes affordable for everyone that works here is what makes a city great. Here is a newly renovated project near my apartment.

#paris #15minutecity #urbanism #housing #socialhousing

www.apur.org/en/housing-d...

SUV parked across a sidewalk at an auto shop driveway (illegal and unsafe)

If it fits, I sits.

If drivers have such a hard time understanding that the sidewalk can’t be parked on, maybe we need to remove more driveways that intersect sidewalks.

This driver’s choice pushes pedestrians into one of the city’s highest injury streets (Nicollet).

Moving to a more walkable city pays off for health, scientists find | CBC News People who moved to a walking friendly city walked more, and at the brisk pace favoured to improve health and prevent disease, a new natural experiment shows.

“Walkable cities allow you to access more amenities on foot for daily life, like going to school or work, buying ingredients for dinner…But that's not available to everyone, given many cities and suburbs in Canada and the U.S. have been designed to emphasize transport by car, urban planners say.”

So agree with this! The kind on the right -- there are a zillion in Seattle -- look like they were designed by committee, or rather, by a group of subcommittees that only fitfully communicated with one another.

Disgusting.

Remember all of the “food prices are too high” social media posts from 2024?

Grocery price inflation is higher now than it was then

Will starter condos soon be for sale in Utah? What's happening with the state's starter home program Starter condos in addition to affordable single family homes? See Utah's latest plan to get more affordable housing built.

Starter condos are starter homes. Period. Why incentivize starter homes that are single family when they’re much more expensive than condos? Let the market build what people can actually afford. I’m glad this conversation is evolving in Utah.

💯