Afternoon links: Fascinating juxtapositions

Diffrent Democrats’ attitudes on bike lanes

Former Congressman and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, now a candidate for Chicago mayor, wants to build new bike lanes including cycle tracks as a major portion of his platform. Meanwhile, New York Senator Chuck Schumer is lobbying hard against a popular bike lane on Prospect Park West in Brooklyn, where he lives. (Streetsblog)

Different councils’ reaction to Walmart

At a New York City Council hearing on Walmart, the retailer didn’t show and elected officials vociferiously criticized the chain; in contrast, no DC Councilmembers showed up to a rally today asking for a community benefits agreement for DC’s planned Walmarts, and members seem uninterested in pushing for any concessions. (Housing Complex)

Urbanist-economic bloggers discuss tea party article

Libertarian urbanist Stephen Smith agrees with our post on the Virginia tea party. Matt Yglesias isn’t surprised at the tea partiers’ behavior, and Ryan Avent elaborates on the emotional paradox involved. A conservative-libertarian think tank guy defends the tea partiers.

Refute traffic engineers, get investigated?

A resident rebutted North Carolina DOT engineers’ conclusions with some engineering analysis of his own. Instead of changing their minds, the chief engineer asked a state board to investigate whether this counted as practicing engineering without a license. (NewsObserver, @EricFidler)

Roundabout works, residents admit

Residents of an upstate NY town admit they were wrong about a new roundabout. Almost everyone opposed the project, but it works great for both drivers and pedestrians and is now hugely popular. (WalkBikeJersey)

New Hampshire could limit student vote

A New Hampshire legislator has proposed a law that would disallow the state’s college students from registering to vote in their college town unless they lived there prior to matriculating. (The Boston Globe)

ICC to Georgia opening soon

The first segment of the Intercounty Connector, from 270 to Georgia Avenue, will open February 22. It could reduce sprawl up 270 at the expense of fostering more driving in general… if people want to pay the tolls. (BeyondDC)