Author | Lightnews

Brian E. @brianengels.bsky.social · 4d

Virginia's GDP growth drops from 6.2% to 1.7%. Three new economic reports issue warnings about why and what comes next. cardinalnews.org/2025/10/21/v...

Virginia’s GDP growth drops from 6.2% to 1.7%. Three new economic reports issue warnings about why and what comes next.

The reports also suggest the state may be losing high-wage jobs but gaining lower-wage jobs.

cardinalnews.org

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Reposted by Brian E.

jcrabapple @jcrabapple.dmv.community.ap.brid.gy · May 22

New Mexico made childcare free. It lifted 120,000 people above the poverty line | New Mexico | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/11/childcare-new-mexico-poverty

New Mexico made childcare free. It lifted 120,000 people above the poverty line

The state, which has long ranked worst in the US for child wellbeing, became the first and only in the country to offer free childcare to a majority of families

www.theguardian.com

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Brian E. @brianengels.bsky.social · 12d

You need to listen to this: "How to respond to #societal #collapse" | Sarah Wilson | TEDxSydney | www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7Ay...

How to respond to societal collapse | Sarah Wilson | TEDxSydney

YouTube video by TEDx Talks

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Brian E.

Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 21d

We often call better city-building ideas bold and visionary when they’re really just common sense given the real-life crises that cities are facing. But true common sense isn’t particularly common these days, so it’s considered bold.

Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · Jun 17

Paris & @annehidalgo.bsky.social are praised for their visionary, progressive city-building, but they don’t get nearly enough credit for just being really pragmatic! Everything they’re doing is common sense.

They’re moving a lot more people with less space while cleaning the air & cooling the city.

Imagine all the space these people on bikes would be taking if they were in cars? Imagine the pollution, noise and emissions. Multimodal cities and urban greening is just common sense.

Paris is still a tight city with many streets that are just choking with cars. Despite the remarkable progress, there’s still plenty of work to do making the city work better with fewer cars and more choices.

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Reposted by Brian E.

Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · Aug 13

In examining regional planning organizations @urbaninstitute.bsky.social, we've found that their boards rarely reflect the populations they represent proportionally: www.urban.org/urban-wire/m...

In new research, we show that this has consequences: boards vastly overrepresent homeowners & drivers ⏬

In Most Regions, Metropolitan Planning Boards Overrepresent Homeowners and Drivers

The appointed and elected officials who sit on the boards of a large share of regional planning organizations rarely reflect the people they serve.,Regional planning organizations help coordinate deci...

www.urban.org

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Brian E. @brianengels.bsky.social · Jul 23

Assessing #urban vitality in high-density #cities: a #spatial #accessibility approach using POI reviews and #residential #data | ‪@nature.com‬ | www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Assessing urban vitality in high-density cities: a spatial accessibility approach using POI reviews and residential data - Humanities and Social Sciences Communications

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications - Assessing urban vitality in high-density cities: a spatial accessibility approach using POI reviews and residential data

www.nature.com

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Brian E. @brianengels.bsky.social · Jul 23

Adding tolled express lanes and widening roads has really paid off! ( i.e. Route 66 expansion in Northern #Virginia). Maybe more time and $$ should go to projects that take #cars off the road and make the region #healthier. Something like... expanding #publictransit options? Just spitballing here...

Brian E. @brianengels.bsky.social · Jul 23

#DC area dethrones #LosAngeles and takes #1 spot for worst #traffic in the country. Ranking from Consumer Affairs of 50 largest #metros in the #nation | Avg. #commute: 33.4 minutes | Regional traffic #congestion lasts 6 hours and 35 minutes | ‪@wtopnews.bsky.social‬ | wtop.com/dc/2025/07/d...

DC region’s ‘brutal commute’ ranks No. 1 for the country’s worst traffic - WTOP News

Drivers in the D.C. region spend more time dealing with traffic than any other city in the nation, according to a new ranking from Consumer Affairs which looked at traffic data from the 50 biggest met...

wtop.com

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Reposted by Brian E.

Tom Flood @tomflood.bsky.social · Jul 17

Always and forever

White text on black:

WE ASK
EVERYONE
OUTSIDE OF THE CAR TO BE SAFE
SO THAT DRIVERS CAN BE DANGEROUS
THAT'S THE ENTIRETY OF OUR APPROACH TO ROAD SAFETY
ROVÉLO CREATIVE

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Reposted by Brian E.

Harvey J. Miller @mobileharv.bsky.social · Jul 16

“We have an infrastructure that was designed for an environment we no longer live in,” Rohit Aggarwala, New York City’s chief climate officer, told the New York Times.

How climate crisis makes rainstorms that flooded New York more common

More than 2in of rain fell in an hour in the region, killing two people, and such storms are only going to intensify

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Brian E.

Better Streets Chicago @betterstreetschicago.org · Jul 11

Legislators failed to fund transit in May, forcing agencies to begin planning 40% service cuts.

This is unacceptable – rise up with us TOMORROW and demand Gov. Pritzker and legislators return to Springfield this summer to save transit NOW!

⏰ July 12th @ 12pm
📍 Daley Plaza
➡️ rally.savetransit.org

Riders Rise Up to Save Transit · Better Streets Chicago

## It's time for state legislators to get back to work to fix and FUND transit! Transit is in crisis because this Spring, the Illinois General Assembly failed to do their job and secure funding neces...

rally.savetransit.org

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Brian E. @brianengels.bsky.social · Jul 9

Examining #spatial #expansion and stemming strategies of #urban #shrinkage: evidence from #Detroit, #USA; New modeling paradigm called gravity-networked spatial interaction zones-based spatial panel modeling (GSIZs-Spanel) | #poverty #decline #suburbanization www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Examining spatial expansion and stemming strategies of urban shrinkage: evidence from Detroit, USA - npj Urban Sustainability

npj Urban Sustainability - Examining spatial expansion and stemming strategies of urban shrinkage: evidence from Detroit, USA

www.nature.com

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Brian E. @brianengels.bsky.social · Jul 9

Researchers investigate #growth and #degrowth approaches; Can #cities continue to grow without destroying #Earth? A new paper from ICTA-UAB, Spain, offers insight into this complex issue | #climate #urbanization #environmental #population #green @icta-uab.bsky.social | phys.org/news/2025-07...

Cities at climate crossroads: Researchers investigate growth and degrowth approaches

Can cities continue to grow without destroying Earth? A new paper from ICTA-UAB, Spain, offers insight into this complex issue.

phys.org

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Brian E. @brianengels.bsky.social · Jul 9

Can #Americans Just Stop Building New #Highways?
A new book argues that the #expansion of the #US #roadway network has exacted #social and #environmental costs that far outweigh the benefits | #interstate #cars #automobiles #harmful #carculture www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Can Americans Just Stop Building New Highways?

A new book argues that the expansion of the US roadway network has exacted social and environmental costs that far outweigh the benefits.

www.bloomberg.com

Reposted by Brian E.

Dr. Dawn Wright @deepseadawn.bsky.social · Jun 30

Map of Ecosystems of North America Completed!

@natureserve.bsky.social has released a first-of-its-kind map of ecosystems across the conterminous U.S. & nearby regions w/ a level of detail & consistency not previously available.
🧪 🌎 #GISchat
geohub-natureserve.opendata.arcgis.com/maps/Natures...

International Vegetation Classification Groups v1.0

This layer presents information on the distribution of International Vegetation Classification (IVC) Groups for North America.

geohub-natureserve.opendata.arcgis.com

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Reposted by Brian E.

Safe Kjipuktuk @safehrm.bsky.social · Jul 6

People who depend on cars to get around are more likely to feel lonely and disconnected than those who have access to good public transport, a UK study has found

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Britons lacking good public transport more likely to feel lonely, UK study finds

Research finds correlation between car dependency and loneliness, particularly in rural towns

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Brian E.

Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · Jun 28

“In Finland, the number of homeless people has fallen sharply. Those affected receive a small apartment & counselling with no preconditions. 4 out of 5 people affected make their way back into a stable life. And all this is CHEAPER than accepting homelessness.”

It costs a lot less to house people.

Finland ends homelessness and provides shelter for all in need - scoop.me

In Finland, the number of homeless people has fallen sharply. Why? The country applies the "Housing First" concept agains homelessness.

thebetter.news

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Brian E. @brianengels.bsky.social · Jun 27

Who Killed the #Streetcar? The State of Fort Worth's Public Transit | #PublicTransportation #ForthWorth #Texas #FortWorthInc fortworthinc.com/news/who-kil...

Who Killed the Streetcar? The State of Fort Worth's Public Transit

When it comes to public transit, Fort Worth is getting left in the rearview. And we better catch up before it’s too late.

fortworthinc.com

Brian E. @brianengels.bsky.social · Jun 27

Episode of CuriosiD, 6/12/25: Addressing a question from a WDET listener about the connection between Detroit’s Big Three #automakers and lack of public #transportation | #Detroit #Michigan #PublicTransportation #cars @wdet.bsky.social wdet.org/2025/06/12/c...

CuriosiD: Did Detroit automakers sabotage public transit? - WDET 101.9 FM

In this episode, WDET listener Jennifer Kulczycki asks about the connection between Detroit's Big Three and lack of public transportation.

wdet.org

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Brian E. @brianengels.bsky.social · Jun 27

Precipitation map shows how much #rain fell yesterday in #Baltimore- #Washingtion forecast area. Some areas saw 3 to 5 inches @nws.noaa.gov @capitalweather.bsky.social #storm #rainfall #flooding #map www.weather.gov/lwx/20250626...

3 to 5 inches of heavy rain fell in some locations yesterday. Here is the map.

www.weather.gov

Brian E. @brianengels.bsky.social · Jun 26

Some humorous segments involve the reporter asking people on bikes what they think of the flyover ramps and if they've been on them. In the other segment, folks who moved into San Antonio's sprawling western outskirts are not happy about additional sprawl and are baffled by clogged older roads

Brian E. @brianengels.bsky.social · Jun 26

Old problems, old solutions: "New highway flyover ramps take San Antonio drivers to new heights" www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jnx...; "San Antonio community frustrated with 3-mile drive that has dragged into nearly an hour" www.youtube.com/watch?v=zee2... @thetransitguy.com @brenttoderian.bsky.social

New highway flyover ramps take San Antonio drivers to new heights

YouTube video by KSAT 12

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Brian E.

Streetsblog NYC @nyc.streetsblog.org · Jun 23

Automobile dependency and sprawl have made the costs of driving exceed its benefit. Here is research to prove it.

Car Harms Monday: Why Driving is Bad for Business, Household Wealth and Community Prosperity in 8 Images - Streetsblog New York City

In the latest entry in our car harms series, an economist shows why car dependency is actually bad for business.

buff.ly

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Reposted by Brian E.

Michael E. Mann @michaelemann.bsky.social · Jun 17

"Atmospheric Warming & Planetary Wave Amplification" | I discuss our (@xuekeli.bsky.social et al) new article in @pnas.org demonstrating for the first time, an increase in incidence of the stuck & wavy jet stream patterns behind persistent summer weather extremes.
michaelmann.net/atmospheric-...

Atmospheric Warming and Planetary Wave Amplification | Michael E. Mann

Here’s the press tip from PNAS on our new article demonstrating an increase over the past 70+ years in the occurrence of quasi-resonant amplification (“QRA”) of […]

michaelmann.net

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Reposted by Brian E.

Qagggy! @qagggy.bsky.social · Jun 10

When I get home, if you hear me referring to “cave people,” I got it from Gil Peñalosa.

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