On Tuesday, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed that the county’s transportation policy should embrace increased use of bicycles, buses, trains and carpools and move away from a dependency on cars.

The vote sends a message that Ventura County will address traffic congestion in ways different from the past, said board Chairwoman Linda Parks, coauthor with Supervisor Steve Bennett of the measure.

Steve Davies will be giving a presentation on the topic “Farmers’ Markets as Community Anchors” on February 4, 4:00 pm, at the Basque Center in downtown Boise, ID.

Many farmers’ markets feel powerless to control their own destiny because they are seen as having little value beyond a place where food is sold by farmers. Many markets around the nation have cemented their position in the community by partnering with other organizations to offer programs in the arts, music, public health, nutrition, and community education. This session will discuss community partnerships, economic multipliers, and the long-term sustainability issues that markets should consider.

Steve’s presentation is a part of the “Reclaiming Our Local Food and Farms: 2006 Rural Roots Annual Conference & Farmers’ Market Coalition Regional Workshop,” running from February 2-5, in Boise.

Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris can size up a bus stop in Los Angeles almost instantly and pretty well tell if a woman will feel safe waiting there or not. Litter, broken glass and discarded beer cans are bad signs. Liquor stores, check-cashing establishments, pawnshops, vacant buildings or fenced lots in the vicinity send up red flags. And alarm bells go off if she spies an alleyway where someone could be lurking or if there is no opportunity for surveillance from surrounding establishments.

Despite the residential advance, Downtown L.A. has challenges to overcome, especially after dark.

“The most inspirational thing about the architecture of Youth UpRising’s new home in East Oakland is something that would be taken for granted anywhere else: the glassy front wall.

It wasn’t there in the structure’s prior incarnation as a health center, when the original windows were filled in out of fear somebody might take potshots at them. But Youth UpRising’s creators want teenagers to believe in the future — and the building’s openness puts that message on view. “

PPS’s Kathy Madden and Meg Walker led the group around the site, and conducted a Placemaking workshop to illicit the community’s vision of what the new park in Oviedo, FL, will be.

Residents of King County’s, WA, less-walkable neighborhoods are more likely to be overweight, a recently completed study concludes.

Earlier research has raised the possibility of a connection between sprawl, obesity and other health problems. The King County results suggest “current laws and regulations are producing negative health outcomes,” the authors warn.

Ethan Kent, PPS Vice President, notes that several of the parks Orange County officials visited on a fact-finding mission are included on PPS’s Hall of Shame due to their emphasis on design, rather than amenities to serve the community’s needs.

A bike-safe network can be created in New York City by creating on-street greenways and buffered bike lanes for low costs.

“Most of Britain’s public buildings alienate people as much as they support them, David Adjaye, one of the country’s most prominent architects has declared.

Speaking to The Observer, the Tanzanian born architect said grand and impressive features such as those on London’s City Hall threaten to isolate Britons rather than embrace them.

He claims that instead of including elements of design from peoples’ every day life, the majority of public-facing buildings are too like palaces, suggesting big is not always beautiful, rather it’s imposing.”