StreetNEWS (September 22)

Park(ing) Day in Boston, on Cambridge St in front of City Hall

• Walk-to-school movement afoot across Mass. (Boston Globe)
  By James Vaznis -- NEWTON -- They gathered on the corner with their book bags and lunch boxes, more than a dozen children chatting and kicking leaves as they waited for their trip to school. But there would be no yellow school bus for them - not even a mother's minivan. Instead, at 8:10 a.m., one of their parents looked both ways, and then led the children and a few other parents on the 10-minute walk to school. This so-called walking school bus is part of a new citywide campaign this fall that mirrors a growing effort across the state to encourage children to walk to school instead of hitching a ride with their parents.
  
  
• Conservation group meters out a grassy park(ing) space (Boston Herald, Harvard Crimson)
  By Eva Wolchover -- BOSTON -- Parking spaces in downtown Boston are hard to come by, but that didn’t stop the Hub from joining some 70 cities nationwide in transforming parking spots into temporary pocket-sized parks - complete with grass, potted plants and picnickers. It’s all part of National Park(ing) Day.
  
  
• MBTA opens bike cages at Alewife (Boston Metro, Boston Globe, Boston Herald)
  CAMBRIDGE -- The MBTA opened two new bike cages at Alewife station Thursday morning, a move officials hope will encourage greater ridership and take more cars off the road. The outdoor cages, located at opposite sides of the station, include 150 spaces each for bicycles. Space will be available for free on a first-come, first-serve basis, but to gain access, riders will have to use a new Bike CharlieCard. That card, also launched Thursday, works just like a normal CharlieCard, but it allows bicyclists to enter the cages by tapping it against a sensor panel next to the cage door.
  
  
• Editorial: Life in the slow lane (New York Times)
  NEW YORK -- New York City has Central Park and other verdant spaces, but in its densest neighborhoods, the texture is hard and the predominant color is gray. Among major cities, New York has the least green acreage per capita. The deficiency is a curiosity for visitors but a quality-of-life issue for regulars. In recent months, some New Yorkers have staged guerrilla-style makeovers of metered parking spaces: rolling out artificial turf and planting lawn chairs until their change ran out. Even as he has spurred development, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has acknowledged the problem, calling for the creation of green space within 10 minutes’ walking distance of every resident.
  
  
• Cities take a new look at off-street parking (Boston Globe)
  By Sarah Karush -- WASHINGTON -- Alice and Jeff Speck didn't have a car and didn't want one. But District of Columbia zoning regulations required them to carve out a place to park one at the house they were building. It would have eaten up precious space on their odd-shaped lot and marred the aesthetics of their neighborhood, dominated by historic row houses. The Specks succeeded in getting a waiver, though it took nine months.

• Minding their businesses: Keeping the neighborhood clean and green (Back Bay Sun)
• Norfolk County inmates clean up Brookline's graffiti (Brookline TAB)
• City draws out artists with project of public canvases (Boston Globe)
• Drivers make a mess of Allston traffic fix (Boston Globe)
• Conservation group meters out a grassy park(ing) space (Boston Herald, Harvard Crimson)

• Walk-to-school movement afoot across Mass. (Boston Globe)

• Bike lanes a mixed blessing for bicyclists (BU Daily Free Press)
• LETTER: Concerns about cyclists' safety cannot be ignored (BU Daily Free Press)
• STAFF EDIT: Not an open-door policy (BU Daily Free Press)
• Cyclist hit near BU Bridge (BU Daily Free Press)
• FitRec the site of second cycling accident this week (BU Daily Free Press)
• Moped lovers ride into Union Square on two wheels (Somerville News)
• MBTA opens bike cages at Alewife (Boston Metro, Boston Globe, Boston Herald)

• Six-car trains to debut today on Blue Line (Boston Globe, Boston Herald)
• MBTA to seek public comment on Silver Line Phase III project (South End News)
• Train derailment disrupts schedules (Boston Globe)
• Boston riders rail against MBTA (Boston Herald)
• Whither goes the green line? (Boston Globe)
• Hair-rising ride (Boston Globe)

• Cabbies angered by plan to convert all taxis to hybrids (West Roxbury Transcript)

• Group envisions a Greenway on ice (Boston Globe)

• Copley tower offers tradeoffs: new shadows, improved skyline (Back Bay Sun)
• The new face of the Pru?; New renderings of Prudential Towers unveiled (Back Bay Sun)
• Cambridge City Council approves zoning change for Porter Square hotel as one neighbor questions legality (Cambridge Chronicle)
• Discussion about BC's plans elicit outbursts, shouting (Allston-Brighton TAB)
• Lesley breaks ground on new dorms (Cambridge Chronicle)
• Bayside proposal generates feedback in BRA review (Dorchester Reporter)
• Developer hopes for hit at Fenway (Boston Globe)
• Editorial: BC's place in Brighton (Boston Globe)
• Demolition starts at Assembly Square, Ikea to come in 2011 (Somerville Journal)
• Designing new Harvard neighborhoods (Boston Globe)

• Hundreds Turn Out For Police Detail, Flagger Debate (WBZ)
• Finance plan for T, Pike readied (Boston Globe)
• Gripes aired at hearing on details (Boston Globe)
• Editorial: Loopholes for a gravy train (Boston Globe)
• Gov eyes ax for toll takers (Boston Globe)
• Somerville not behind plan for civilian flaggers (Somerville Journal)
• Toll foes: Deval Patrick's on right track (Boston Herald)
• Pike authority plans toll collector layoffs (Boston Metro)

• Calif. land use subject to global warming review (San Jose Mercury News)
• The Downside of Low-Cost Buses (Gotham Gazette)
• August, '08 Was Another Banner Month for Downeaster Ridership (Trainriders NE)
• At Grand Central, Sen. Clinton Calls for Funding Mass Transit (Streetsblog)
• City OKs parking tax raise: Extra revenue to fund free hybrid shuttle buses (Baltimore Sun)
• Editorial: Life in the slow lane (New York Times)

• Driving Versus Public Transit Costs (Planetizen)
• Brookings: Feds Should Stop Giving Transit Projects the Run-Around (Streetsblog)
• You Know Why They Ride, But Don't Forget Why They Stay (MassTransit)
• Cities take a new look at off-street parking (Boston Globe)

• Grona Taget Pushes the Swedish Speed Record to New Heights in Very High Speed, Reaching 303 km/h (Reuters)
• New traffic system may cut waiting time at BRT (Hindustan Times)
• Melbourne's Complete Streets (Streetsblog)