Breakfast links: Stretch your mind

Do cities hurt your brain? The Boston Globe writes that “Just being in an urban environment, [reserachers] have found, impairs our basic mental processes. … While it’s long been recognized that city life is exhausting — that’s why Picasso left Paris — this new research suggests that cities actually dull our thinking, sometimes dramatically so.” The solution? Even just a few trees and some plant diversity in our parks can correct the problem. But big open lawn-type parks, says the Globe, don’t work. Also, these researchers seem to equate suburbia with living among nature, while the article mentions nothing about the impact on the brain of a long daily commute in traffic.

Guess Metro’s 1/20 ridership: Track Twenty-nine is running a contest to estimate Metrorail ridership on Inauguration Day. The “Wisdom of Crowds” would predict that with enough guesses, the average may come closer than any one individual guess. Will that happen?

Back to the BAC: WashCycle attended last week’s Bicycle Advisory Council. Many businesses and organizations are eager for SmartBike expansion, and WashCycle thinks the next round of expansion could exceed 20 new stations. Meanwhile, Councilmember Graham may create a DDOT bicycle enforcement unit, which will focus on the lawbreaking that most endangers cyclists, motorists and pedestrians.

Optimism about Klein: Last week’s Current writes that “Smart-growth backers hail Fenty’s transportation pick”, DDOT nominee Gabe Klein (article, continuation). “Klein noted shifting philosophies in urban transportation, with increased focus on public transit instead of car travel. He also said he “would seek to Hintroduce a culture of respect and learning” to the 150 staff members at the Transportation Department, briefly referencing “an ongoing training program” he has in mind.”

Not really a charitable cause: Widely-read legal blog Above the Law picks up Action Committee for Transit’s criticism of law firm Sidley Austin for taking on the Town of Chevy Chase’s anti-transit case pro bono. According to ACT, “Sidley Austin’s web site states that the firm’s pro bono work is done ‘to provide legal services to the poor and to charitable, religious, community, governmental and educational organizations that otherwise would be unable to afford legal representation.’ The town can easily afford to pay for legal services. Its most recent financial statement shows it has $4.4 million tucked away in the bank—more than its entire annual budget of $3 million.”

Georgetown trio: A columnist for the Georgetown student newspaper, the Hoya, endorses raising transit’s priority in federal spending, including the Purple Line; a temporary bus-only lane in Georgetown might return in the future; Marc Fisher takes the anti-preservation stance on the Georgetown Apple store.