Only in Portland? Hundreds of people gathered to tear up an underutilized parking lot and replace it with a community garden. Streetfilms created a video of the festivities. My favorite part is the dancers on stilts wielding giant jackhammers.

Sunshine State Smarts: South Florida is about as mally and sprawly as it gets, but some of the waterfront cities are exprimenting with narrowing their downtown roads, reports the Sun-Sentinel. West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale both took away lanes a few years ago, and now the smaller cities want in on the action. Even some drivers like it. No word on whether they put in bike lanes on the narrowed roadways.

Arlingtonian exceptionalism: If only Oakland had pushed for BART under major corridors, like Arlington did, instead of along the freeway median, BART might have 110,000 more daily riders and Oakland might have gotten billions in new development, argues The Overhead Wire. Maybe it’s not too late for the Rockville Pike corridor?

Transit a political winner in the Sun Belt: Georgia’s governor has reversed his position and endorsed commuter rail in Atlanta. Houston’s mayor, meanwhile, already owns a Prius, bikes to work, and supports mixed-use development and mass transit. Via Planetizen.