Inspiration from All Directions

There's some good stuff going on. First of all, rumor has it that David Byrne (musician, former Talking Heads member, bicycle rack designer, and author of Bicycle Diaries) will be speaking at the Congress for the New Urbanism conference, which will be held in Atlanta in May, 2010. The conference theme is "New Urbanism: Rx for Healthy Places."

This conference is shaping up to be spectacular anyway; this puts it over the top. There is also interest in having a 'ciclovia' during the conference - a day during which entire streets are closed to motor vehicle traffic and travelers are encouraged to walk and bicycle instead. Ciclovias are named after a program in Bogotá, Colombia, which demotorizes many major streets every Sunday. Route suggestions and volunteers are welcome!

And from around the U.S., we have a 'bike bus' created by high school students in Orlando, FL; a new "Cities for Cycling" initiative which counts Atlanta among its member cities; and some favorable commentary on a recent road diet project in Atlanta. As the song used in the 'bike bus' video says, times are changing.