Why Johnny Can’t Ride

Childhood obesity rates are soaring, youth participation in sports and other active pursuits is plummeting, and a generation is coming of age with little understanding of the joy and freedom of unsupervised play. There’s a simple solution—but all across the nation our schools earn a failing grade when it comes to letting kids ride their bikes.

Adam Marino of Saratoga Springs, NY, sparked a national debate simply by trying to ride to middle school. (by Nathaniel Welch)

more: bicycling

His planned UCSD visit — with a speaking engagement 7 p.m. at the Warrren Mall (on the north side of the Warren Lecture Hall) — comes after recent stops at UC campuses that drew thousands of spectators…

Tickets to the rally are free but reservations are required.

sd u-t, 25.04.12, 04.05.12.

“They never came back, ignored all my cries and I still don’t know what happened,” he said. “I’m not sure how they could forget me.”

“I had to do what I had to do to survive….I hallucinated by the third day,” Chong said. “I was completely insane.”

Daniel Chong and his lawyer spoke to the media on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the claim they will file with the federal court system on Wednesday.

“He was at the wrong place at the wrong time,” said his lawyer Gene Iredale, who compared Chong’s experience to Abu Ghraib..

The fourth-year engineering student missed all his midterms and is unsure about returning to school in light of this life-altering experience and new mental conditions.

nbcsandiego, 01.05.12.
sd u-t, 01.05.12. 

how’s that war on drugs going

Senate Bill 1464, this year’s version of the 3-foot passing bill cosponsored by CBC and the City of Los Angeles, passed in its first Senate hearing on Apr. 17. The Senate Transportation & Housing Committee voted 8-0 to approve the bill.

The bill generated little discussion among committee members and no opposition at the hearing, a promising sign that we’ve solved the main concerns that caused Gov. Jerry Brown to veto SB 910, last year’s 3-foot passing bill…

The bill’s next stop is the Senate Appropriations Committee, but SB 1464 does not contain an appropriation or have a meaningful fiscal impact, we don’t expect much discussion. The full Senate will vote on the bill later next month, and then it’s on to the Assembly this summer…

read more: calbike.org, 26.04.12.

stoweboyd:

The suburban and homogenous USA has become a thing of the past, and rising suburban poverty and the flight of the wealthy to exclusive exurbs and gentrified urban neighborhoods is leading to suburban infrastructure collapse:

The New Suburban Poverty

Why is poverty soaring in the suburbs? Part of the answer, according to the Brookings Institution, is simple demographics: More Americans live in the suburbs, so there are more poor people there, too. But the recent downturn has also had an outsize impact on suburbs, with the decline in certain categories of jobs and an end to the housing boom that drew many urbanites and immigrants to the suburbs in the first place.

[…]

Chances are, however, that suburbs facing the highest burdens of the new poverty will be least able to meet them because of the economic recession and the spatial retreat of the better off. Just as many white Americans fled the cities for the suburbs in the 1960s, leaving the cities behind with declining tax revenues and fewer job opportunities, there is new cycle of exodus of the well-to-do from inner-ring metropolitan suburbs. As the better-off retreat, the provision of amenities and essentials from parks to schools to garbage pickup, heavily funded by property taxes, are bound to flounder for those left-behind.

One recent study conducted by Sean Reardon and Kendra Bischoff of Stanford University documented the spatial sorting by income that is going on, with the wealthy flocking together in new exurbs as well as gentrifying pockets of urban centers. In 1970 — the high-water mark of a more homogeneous suburban America — only 15 percent of families in metropolitan areas lived in socio-economically segregated neighborhoods categorized as affluent or poor. In 2007, that figure was 31.7 percent.

Lisa McGirr, nytimes, 19.03.12.

The demographic splintering in the US is likely accelerating since the 31.7% of 2007. When the majority of the country lives in economically segregated neighborhoods, that, more than the collapse of the suburbs, will be the end of the American Dream.

(via emergentfutures)

Whatever political spin proponents or critics might want to put on the tariff decision, there is no question that solar panels from China now control about half of the American market, while panels from the United States control less than a third. American imports of Chinese solar panels have soared to $2.65 billion last year from $21.3 million in 2005.

While American manufacturers oppose the imports and filed the trade case against China, users of solar energy have benefited from low-cost Chinese solar panels. An American industry group composed of companies that sell and install solar panels said Tuesday that it was pleased with the relatively small size of the tariffs, having braced for higher ones.

nytimes, 20.03.12.

Apparel doesn’t sound like a dirty industry, but its manufacturing has huge global consequences. Tanning leather often involves toxic chemicals. Making synthetic fabrics such as polyester uses large amounts of crude oil and other materials that release volatile compounds. Cotton-growing is water-intensive—and cotton is often shipped from the U.S. and Europe to Asia to make thread and fabric, then shipped elsewhere for cutting and elsewhere again for sewing. Some of our clothes have circled the globe twice by the time they arrive in stores.

Increasingly, environmentalists believe we should also count the costs at the other end of clothing’s life: the garbage dump. Americans tossed out 12.4 million tons of textiles in 2008—a number that has risen far faster than other sources of trash, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Our consumption habits were a lot more sustainable back in 1960, when we tossed out only 1.8 million tons of textiles.

As part of its participation in the Eco Index, Levi’s did a separate internal study of its own practices. As a result, Levi’s changed its transportation routes last year to make them more efficient and reduced carbon emissions by 700 metric tons. In addition to the Goodwill agreement, Levi’s also cut back on packaging, allowing only three pieces of labeling with the jeans—a back-pocket tag, a size sticker, and a price tag.

wsj, 21.07.10.

…the Senate’s adoption of MAP-21, the authorization of the federal transportation program, by a strong bipartisan vote of 74-22.

MAP-21 makes several key reforms:

• For the first time, establishes national policy goals and performance measures for the federal surface transportation program, such as addressing congestion, improving access to multiple travel options, supporting domestic manufacturing and reducing impacts on the environment and adjacent communities;
• Consolidates programs and streamlines project delivery, while maintaining existing funding levels;
• Holds states accountable for the safe upkeep of our roads and bridges;
• Maintains local control over a share of funds and ensures access funding for safer walking and bicycling;
• Includes emergency provisions to allow transit agencies to avoid service cuts and fare hikes;
• Extends the commuter benefit for transit users, commensurate with parking benefits for drivers;
• Helps communities make plans to meet the growing demand for walkable neighborhoods with access to jobs, services and public transportation;
• Ensures that federal funds support streets that are safe and complete for everyone who uses them, whether motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists, wheelchair users or transit riders.

Now the House must act in similar fashion to ensure that this critical federal program does not lapse, even as the spring construction season begins. By following the Senate’s lead, House leaders can craft a bill that serves all Americans and put the federal program on a solid footing once again.

transportation for america, 14.03.12.
via sfbike.

Thanks to California Senator Barbara Boxer for sponsoring the bill.

thegreenurbanist:

“2012 is shaping up to be a big year for women on bikes”

bikeportland, 08.03.12.

I hope so. 
but until more cycle tracks / protected/separated bike lanes get built/painted, I don’t think there’re gonna be many (new) women cycling outside of the ones already copenhagenzied/amsterdamized/parisian/europeanized or who are guy-ish or roadies. (meaning probably not here in SD. but go ahead and surprise me.)