The Best Cities to Live in Car Free

We recently traveled to Europe. They rely on bikes and transit much more then we do in America. And it shows - the average European appears to be in much better shape then Americans.


Interesting article in the Wall Street Journal.


"Several factors make a city easy to live in without a car. The most important one is a widely available and efficient public transportation system. Another is having daily amenities, such as groceries, shopping, schools and entertainment, nearby and within easy reach on foot or by bicycling. The best cities have both features and 24/7 Wall St. has identified the ten best ones to live without a car."

Read more:


 The Best Cities to Live in Car Free - 24/7 Wall St. http://247wallst.com/2011/11/01/the-best-cities-to-live-in-car-free/#ixzz1cexgo7s6

Amtrak representatives announced this week that their train engines ran just as well when diesel was replaced with up to 20% of a biofuel made from beef tallow. 


(SmartPlanet)

Population Center of the United States

The maps below show the center of the population of the United States.

Click to See all the maps

A Nation of Vidiots

       Interesting article by Professor Jeffrey Sachs on the impacts of television.

NEW YORK – The past half-century has been the age of electronic mass media. Television has reshaped society in every corner of the world. Now an explosion of new media devices is joining the TV set: DVDs, computers, game boxes, smart phones, and more. A growing body of evidence suggests that this media proliferation has countless ill effects.

Click to read more

Economic Inequality

Economic inequality in the United States

Based on data from 2005 the United States had one of the highest levels of income inequality among OECD nations."

Source:  James Lindsay CNN.com/GPS:


But we are a lot better then underdeveloped countries. Click to read the data.

Urban Theater - World Series

Dan and Dave Dorgan and Craig Hullinger at the World Series

Went to the 6th World Series game last night in St Louis. The 47,000 plus crowd was rocking. Incredible game.  St Louis was down by two runs in the ninth and tied it. Ditto the 10th inning. They were down to their last strike both times when they tied it. St Louis won it with a single home run in the 11th inning. 


Fun time, and I am not a big baseball fan - a friend of mine Dave Dorgan called me at the last minute and took me to the game.  We are both White Sox fans and his son Dan is a Cubs fan. The final game tonight should also be great.


Great urban theater when 47,000 happy people get together. They were singing, dancing, shouting, and having a great time. St Louis is a great city and getting better each year.

Americans Are Staying Home

American families are staying home more than at any time since World War II thanks to the housing bust and unemployment that has kept young adults and retirees from moving elsewhere, the Census says.

Read more:


http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/10/27/historic-number-americans-are-staying-home-thanks-to-economy/#ixzz1bzcg95gy