"Urban areas will need a major transformation to recover from COVID-19. So far, local leaders haven’t stepped up."
"The most famous advice in modern politics might be, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”
In Europe, policymakers have seized on the coronavirus pandemic to re-envision how cities should look, feel and function. Milan has lowered speed limits, converted intersections into public space and declared the explicit goal of reducing car usage. The British government has committed to investing $2.6 billion in sustainable transportation infrastructure; London authorities are planning for a fivefold increase in walking and a tenfold increase in bicycling. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced a plan to install more than 400 miles of new bicycle lanes, many on the city’s busiest thoroughfares.
So far, American policymakers have shown noticeably less ambition. Despite the importance of open space for preventing the spread of COVID-19, the federal government has not announced any plans to increase spending on bicycle lanes or sidewalks."
