Image by Mobilus in Mobili licensed under Creative Commons.

Protests throughout the world last Saturday showed us what it's like to have streets dedicated entirely to people on foot. Donald Trump's infrastructure plan came out this week… or did it? And as transportation technology advances, will the ride hailing industry stay in the picture financially? Check out what’s happening around the world in transportation, land use, and other related areas!

Pedestrianized protests: The recent Women's March on Washington and dozens of other cities around the country and world had an interesting side effect: turning main streets into pedestrian promenades. While it was just one day, the idea that millions of people walked their streets and got to see what a car free environment would be like is a positive step towards creating cities for people. (New York Magazine)

Are these the president’s plans, or are they fake? Donald Trump has said a lot about building new infrastructure. Earlier this week, a list of 50 projects totaling over $135 billion made its way around the internet, and a lot of people believed it to be a list of the White House's plans and priorities. But White House officials told Politico the list wasn't an official document, and many are unsure of whether it's even accurate at all. The same day that list came out, Democrats floated their own $1 trillion dollar proposal that didn't seem to gain any traction. (McClatchy DC)

Tempering expectations about changing transportation: There is a lot of hope that in a few years, self-driving vehicles will be ubiquitous. Among the biggest benefactors of that would be ride hailing companies whose profits would go way up since they wouldn’t have to pay drivers. But there are still questions about whether those companies are going to be financially viable in the near term, and according to this writer, the industry still has a lot to learn about business models, the workforce, and even artificial intelligence before we solve all of our pressing transportation issues. (Planetizen)

Housing to thumb your nose at? The Architecture and Urban Design profession has a word for homes that have a garage as their most prominent street facing feature: a snout house. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the city council is about to discuss whether to ban them in favor of requiring more alleys and porches. Developers say allowing snout houses makes it easier to build starter homes on smaller lots, and a local Cedar Rapids opinion writer agrees. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)

How cities shape adult friendships: As you get further away from college it can be harder to forge meaningful friendships with other adults. Does the way our cities are designed increase the degree of difficulty? Maybe or maybe not. But a more compact design, this author argues, is the key to fulfilling our collective needs as a society. (Placemakers)

Quote of the Week

“The Census is required by the Constitution, but it’s just about counting people. You need to know how many people there are and you can allocate Congressional seats. Anything beyond that, many Republicans view as illegitimate.”

- Arizona State Professor David King on the likelihood that the Trump Administration will kill the American Community Survey, which the Census Bureau runs to give governments more detailed data. (Streetsblog USA)