Obama, Clinton ride transit but don’t talk about it: Clinton and Obama both have good, though vague, plaforms on transportation policy, writes the Philadelphia Daily News. But transportation hasn’t been an issue in the campaign, while America needs visionary thinking in transportation. One thing’s for sure, but not in the article: McCain is much worse, by far.

Driving is deductible, biking isn’t: Those who drive for work (other than commuting) can deduct the cost at 48.5 cents per mile. Those who bike for work? Zero, reports the WashCycle. Canada and the UK both allow bicycle deductions.

Mixed-use doesn’t always work (at first): The Dallas Morning News discusses projects with ground-floor retail that’s going vacant due to lack of demand. The better projects at least are designing their buildings so ground-floor apartments can be converted to stores if demand is there in the future. Via Planetizen. (Of course, retail is sometimes a chicken-and-egg situation: the retail won’t thrive until there are pedestrians, but a pedestrian environment won’t develop without retail.)

David Alpert created Greater Greater Washington in 2008 and was its executive director until 2020. He formerly worked in tech and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco Bay, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He lives with his wife and two children in Dupont Circle.