WHAT WE’RE READING – SEPTEMBER 26

Five articles curated by the Wagner Planner staff: Here’s what the Wagner Planner staff is reading. This week: the continued survival of Chinatown, highway expansions across America, Detroit’s half-baked freeway removal, our inequitable cities, and the decline of walking, biking, and the school bus.

Saving Chinatown, While Also Making It Their Own (NYT Style Magazine) “To be in Chinatown — whether as a descendant of multiple generations or as one in an influx of hundreds of newcomers each year, both immigrants and those born in the United States — means being part of Chinatown, on the ground, committed to its continuing.”

Why Democrats and Republicans Alike Keep Expanding Highways (Streetsblog)“ Attempts at equity-washing have rung particularly hollow in Maryland, where advocates say adding lanes is unlikely to “eliminate employment barriers” for under-served residents as the Moore administration suggests — particularly for families who are too poor to drive. And even for those who do, many of those advocates have been questioning whose congestion, exactly, would be cut.” 

Michigan Department Of Transportation: “An I-375 With Fewer Than Ten Lanes Would Take Away People’s Right To Get Around” (The Handbuilt City) “Interstate 375 was built in 1964…Half a century later, we’re getting rid of it. …After much ado about the road engineering agency’s emphasis on sustainability and community engagement, the MDOT representative proceeded to show…the exact opposite of what the engaged community requested. People want narrower, safer streets. But this presentation includes…a ten-lane boulevard.”

In Search of Equitable Cities (Corner Side Yard) “The exclusion of Blacks, immigrants and other people of color in American cities has never been resolved. It prevents cities from reaching their fullest potential. It’s been tempered over the years, but it still exists. I’ve yet to see any urbanist movement directly take on what I view as the most critical long-term challenge facing cities: their inequity. Until there is, it will always be with us.”

The Agony of the School Car Line (The Atlantic) “A few generations ago, in 1969, nearly one in two kids walked or biked to school. Now only about one in 10 kids gets to school those ways. And only about a third of children who live within just one mile of school walk or bike there. School buses—a onetime right of passage for American children—have been supplanted as the leading vehicle for getting kids to school. According to the most recent national data, a solid majority of kids—54 percent—are driven to school.”

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