iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Kaid Benfield @kaidindc.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Places for people are like ecosystems, working best for both humans & the environment when each of their component parts is healthy & all the parts are working together in a healthy & harmonious way. My latest, published in A Placemaking Journal. placemakers.com/2026/06/22/t...

placemakers.com

The Healthiest, Most Loved Communities Live in Harmony with Nature

I believe to my core that the healthiest, most loved communities live in harmony with nature. Indeed, whether urban, suburban, or rural, whether large or small, whether rich, poor, or something in …

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Kaid Benfield @kaidindc.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Essentials for greener, healthier communities, why we need a sense of place, why more ‘urbanism’ isn’t always good, how to popularize ‘smart growth,’ & more, w/ 70+ photos of places to emulate. My completely reconceived, redesigned People Habitat website, now live. Peoplehabitat.com

Example of a walkable, human scale neighborhood living in harmony with nature, Boston, MA.

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Kaid Benfield @kaidindc.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Friends, my totally reconceived and redesigned People Habitat website is dedicated to the idea that the healthiest, most loved communities live in harmony with nature. Illustrated with 70+ photos of some favorites, and it's live for viewing as of TODAY. Please take a look! www.Peoplehabitat.com

peoplehabitat.com

People Habitat

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Kaid Benfield @kaidindc.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

This surprises me, but I'm glad it appears to be true:

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Maggie but Christmas 🎄 @magalag.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

I think I’m lonely. I want to live in a walkable community where people talk to their neighbors

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Kaid Benfield @kaidindc.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Damn. I keep reading examples of these tragedies over and over. Surely we can do better at prosecuting chronic offenders:

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Kaid Benfield @kaidindc.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Yikes. I knew they moving in this direction, but man that's a scary number:

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K.H.I. @sheridesabike.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

And same report cites info that dedicated bus lanes speed up service 25 to 45%

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Adam Miller @ajm6792.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

This is unacceptable

Pedestrian bridge over Hiawatha at 24th St is fenced off

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Kaid Benfield @kaidindc.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Wow! Now this is cool. More city nature everywhere, please:

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Hayden Clarkin @thetransitguy.com · 13/06/2026

My train from Providence to New York took 6.5 hours due to a downed power line. At Chinese HSR speeds, I would've been in Miami in the same amount of time. This country desperately needs to invest in its infrastructure.

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Kaid Benfield @kaidindc.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Strike the word "British" and this will be more accurate:

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Qagggy! @qagggy.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

BEFORE AND AFTER. If you venture way outside the parts of Barcelona where tourists tend to gather, you will find street transformations as impressive as any superblock.

Google street view of a normal looking street.

Photo taken by me today of the same spot on Carrer de Cristóbal de Moura. Now it is lush and green. An amazing shared street.

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Kenji @elementaleucology.com · 13/06/2026

90% of the public advocacy around "sustainability" in Illinois is focused around EV adoption/charging and I need people to understand how ABSURD it is to still be nibbling at these edges through green capitalist frameworks. Mass transit should not be getting such short shrift in this economy.

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Kaid Benfield @kaidindc.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Great news to be sure, but I worry about the feasibility of ground-floor commercial in this age of diminishing retail:

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Kaid Benfield @kaidindc.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

Lifting zoning restrictions may not help housing affordability as much as some hope. But if we must bring some change to established neighborhoods, let’s at least do it with human scale and respect for the things people love about their communities. My latest: bit.ly/4tr2eKE

bit.ly

In established neighborhoods, add new construction with sensitivity and appealing scale

Next time you open the website of a smart growth organization, take a look at the images it features. Chances are you’ll see at least one…

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Kaid Benfield @kaidindc.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

In our enthusiasm for housing and increased density, advocates can overlook the opportunities and benefits of human-scale development. Our images often suggest that this scale represents what we do; my new essay argues that we should more often practice what we preach. bit.ly/4tr2eKE

Human scale development on Connecticut Ave NW in Washington, DC.

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Kaid Benfield @kaidindc.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

Wow! Congratulations to @smartgrowthusa.bsky.social for hiring @bethosborne.bsky.social as its new president and CEO. What a wonderful choice! Godspeed, Beth! www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hu...

smartgrowthamerica.org

Press release: Beth Osborne announced as President and CEO of Smart Growth America - Smart Growth America

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Andrea Junker @strandjunker.com · 26/08/2025

Apparently, no one seems particularly bothered, but for the past few days, Trump has been talking repeatedly about being a dictator. If Americans don’t want that, the window to stop him is closing quickly.

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Timmons Roberts @timmonsroberts.bsky.social · 23/08/2025

This is just so self-defeating for our country. Creating complete unpredictability for an infant industry Killing an infant in its cradle…really people?? www.nytimes.com/2025/08/22/c...

nytimes.com

Trump Administration Orders Work Halted on Wind Farm That Is Nearly Built

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Leana Hosea @leanahosea.bsky.social · 24/08/2025

Looking at some of the replies to this post, it's notable how different the approach is in cycling+walking-friendly countries like the Netherlands + Sweden to that in most countries that face these weather conditions.

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Qagggy! @qagggy.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

JFC what are we even doing? This neighborhood park is treeless and desolate so it can be a parking lot once a year?

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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

As our kids go #BackToSchool, never forget that we ARE the traffic that we’re afraid of. If more kids walked, biked or rode transit to school, it would erase a massive number of car trips each day, and our kids would be safer, healthier and better at school. HT Ian Lockwood. Spread the word.

Cartoon illustrating, how traffic induces more traffic. “There is too much traffic for Billy to walk to school, so we drive him.”

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Dana R. Fisher (aka the Apocalyptic Optimist) @fisherdanar.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

Apparently getting disaster aid has become a privilege in the US

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Kaid Benfield @kaidindc.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

This is an important piece of evidence. US drivers need to slow TF down, especially on streets and roads where people live:

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Vision Zero Vancouver @visionzerovancouver.ca · 20/08/2025

It was awesome collaborating with @tomflood.bsky.social on this project. So cool to see this up!

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Robin Kirby @robinmk.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

White sands New Mexico

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ProPublica @propublica.org · 20/08/2025

NEW: For years, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has pushed discredited theories linking vaccines to autism. Now, scientists studying the condition fear he has preconceived notions that will harm the field and taint new funding for research. propub.li/41JYl7o

propub.li

RFK Jr. Vowed to Find the Environmental Causes of Autism. Then He Shut Down Research Trying to Do Just That.

While touting a $50 million initiative to identify the causes of autism, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is helping lead an administration that is rolling back protections against pollution and toxic chemicals,...

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Larry Glickman @larryglickman.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

The Trump administration is intent on destroying U.S. higher education, which has for more than half a century been a beacon to the world.

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Kees van der Leun @sustainable2050.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

New study: 60% of the world’s land area is in a precarious state, putting at risk the ability of the plant world to acquire enough energy through photosynthesis to maintain the material flows of carbon, water and nitrogen that support the ecosystems. www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/late...

pik-potsdam.de

60 percent of the world’s land area is in a precarious state

15.08.2025 – A new study maps the planetary boundary of “functional biosphere integrity” in spatial detail and over centuries. It finds that 60 percent of global land areas are now already outside the...

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Free Transit Ottawa 🇨🇦 @freetransitottawa.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

Terrible public transit forces people into car ownership whether they can afford it or not. Owning a car costs $16,000 a year of which $3-4,000 is insurance. Now hundreds of Ottawa drivers are citing the high cost of living as reason for not renewing their insurance. www.ctvnews.ca/ottawa/artic...

ctvnews.ca

More Ottawa drivers taking the chance to drive without insurance, OPP say

Ontario Provincial Police say since Jan. 1, officers in Ottawa have issued 336 charges to drivers for operating a vehicle without insurance. Twenty-five charges were issued to drivers without insuranc...

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Kaid Benfield @kaidindc.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

So sad and, frankly, outrageous that someone with these violations on his record is allowed to drive:

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un Américain perdu à Paris @paris75009.bsky.social · 16/08/2025

23.1% of principle residences in Paris are social housing. Keeping homes affordable for everyone that works here is what makes a city great. Here is a newly renovated project near my apartment. #paris #15minutecity #urbanism #housing #socialhousing www.apur.org/en/housing-d...

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Laura G Mitchell @lauragmitchell.com · 16/08/2025

If it fits, I sits. If drivers have such a hard time understanding that the sidewalk can’t be parked on, maybe we need to remove more driveways that intersect sidewalks. This driver’s choice pushes pedestrians into one of the city’s highest injury streets (Nicollet).

SUV parked across a sidewalk at an auto shop driveway (illegal and unsafe)

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Council for Canadian Urbanism @canurbanism.bsky.social · 16/08/2025

“Walkable cities allow you to access more amenities on foot for daily life, like going to school or work, buying ingredients for dinner…But that's not available to everyone, given many cities and suburbs in Canada and the U.S. have been designed to emphasize transport by car, urban planners say.”

cbc.ca

Moving to a more walkable city pays off for health, scientists find | CBC News

People who moved to a walking friendly city walked more, and at the brisk pace favoured to improve health and prevent disease, a new natural experiment shows.

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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 16/08/2025

So agree with this! The kind on the right -- there are a zillion in Seattle -- look like they were designed by committee, or rather, by a group of subcommittees that only fitfully communicated with one another.

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Richard Waite @waiterich.bsky.social · 16/08/2025

Remember all of the “food prices are too high” social media posts from 2024? Grocery price inflation is higher now than it was then

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Alessandro Rigolon @alerigolon.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

Starter condos are starter homes. Period. Why incentivize starter homes that are single family when they’re much more expensive than condos? Let the market build what people can actually afford. I’m glad this conversation is evolving in Utah.

deseret.com

Will starter condos soon be for sale in Utah? What's happening with the state's starter home program

Starter condos in addition to affordable single family homes? See Utah's latest plan to get more affordable housing built.

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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 14/08/2025

What's it called when big corporations & an authoritarian government start effectively merging? Someone should come up with a word for it.

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C. C. Brooks @c-brooks.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

We expect to travel too quickly and are required to travel too great of distances in too short a time. The entire system of travel expectation, work requirements, and personal demand for speed is a problem that is killing more and more of us. When does this become an unignorable problem?

youtube.com

Dunning-Kruger Is a Scourge On Our Roads

YouTube video by Ray Delahanty | CityNerd

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Kaid Benfield @kaidindc.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

Right turn on red doesn't belong in busy sections of cities, and possibly in cities at all. Well-intentioned but unfortunate policy from the 1970s:

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The War on Cars @thewaroncars.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

We love a candidate who makes public transit the framing of his campaign messaging. Literally. Look at how this video opens up.

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Kaid Benfield @kaidindc.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

Well done. Several good examples of human-scaled urbanism that can improve communities:

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Mekka Okereke @mekka.mekka-tech.com · 14/08/2025

🧔🏿‍♂️I can't believe that Trump would deploy over 1,000 national guard troops to NYC to harass Black people, despite historically low and dropping crime! This is just fascism and a show of force designed to intimidate! 👩🏼Um... don't you mean DC? And it's only 800 soldiers? 🧔🏿‍♂️No, it was 1,000 and NYC.🤡

independent.co.uk

Civil rights groups slam New York’s ‘militarized’ subways

Elected officials, activists and even NYPD reject the idea that the city’s transit system is a ‘war zone’ that needs US military patrolling Americans

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