Over half of recent pedestrian deaths in our region happened on wide, high-speed arterial roads. When will traffic engineers, elected officials, and residents get serious about fixing dangerous street designs?

Washington, D.C. – A new report, Dangerous by Design, released today by the National Complete Streets Coalition, a program of Smart Growth America, provides information on pedestrian fatalities and injuries and ranks every state, metro region and county based upon the degree of danger faced by pedestrians. Comparatively, the Washington, DC region is safer for pedestrians than many other regions in the nation, ranking 35 out of the 51 largest metro areas (with 1 being the most dangerous). At the same time, the report found that 843 pedestrians were killed in the region from 2003 to 2012 — an unacceptable number no matter the DC region’s current ranking - and the dangers for pedestrians along suburban arterial roads is particularly high.

38 percent. That's the growing percentage of District households that are car-free. Countless others are car-lite, relying mostly on transit, walking, and biking. Too often we lose sight of this fact in local debates on issues like parking, transit improvements, redevelopment, and so on.         Mouse over or click

Almost 4 in 10 DC households are car-free, and even more are car-light. That’s not because DC is full of car-hating zealots; it’s because life is simply more convenient that way, when the conditions are right. When 5 minutes of walking, along a pleasant and safe sidewalk, can get you to

Ginnie from the Walkable Living Stories campaign. What a way to kick off summer, with the Coalition for Smarter Growth launch today of Walkable Living Stories. The campaign shares the stories of dozens of Washington D.C. residents who have chosen a walkable lifestyle. When you get to the site, you find yourself clicking