A black bear is being sought by New Jersey police on suspicion of stealing a minivan.

A Worrisome Precedent

Just months ago, Northern Virginia residents and elected officials were expecting hundreds of millions of dollars in improvements to such roads. Now, because of budget cuts and state lawmakers' failure to reach a deal on regional transportation funding, drivers can expect only more misery.

Little Relief For Choked Secondary Roads in Virginia

Today, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released estimates of personal income at the county level for 2006 based on newly available source data. Personal income is a comprehensive measure of the income of all persons from all sources. In addition to wages and salaries it includes employer–provided health insurance, dividends and interest income, social security benefits, and other types of income.

Local Area Personal Income, 2006

The New America Foundation and the American Security Project are proud to co-sponsor a special lunchtime panel featuring leading experts sounding their urgent call for the United States to end the practice of torture.

For those in the DC area, the New America Foundation is hosting a luncheon today with Peter Bergen.

No Torture, No Exceptions | The New America Foundation

Ultimately, you're just as hosed as Munich, but the next five years look good, apparently.

These cities, large and small, promise the best economic growth over the next five years.

Top 3
1) Austin, TX
2) Cape Coral-Ft. Myers, FL
3) Atlanta, GA

See also the slide show.

America’s Fastest-Growing Metros

Something of a follow-up to the post on Walk Score.

It is clear from all of our work that the public spaces of cities, towns and villages -- the streets and roads, parks and plazas, waterfronts and commercial districts -- are the source of this country's greatest potential to create livable, walkable, healthy and sustainable communities as well as its greatest challenge.

With this idea in mind, PPS will be offering "Streets as Places," a two-day transportation/placemaking training course on November 29-30, 2007. The goal of the course is to introduce participants to new ways of thinking about streets as public spaces and how placemaking can be used to build great streets and great communities. It is intended for anyone who is interested in creating a great street, including transportation professionals who want to learn more about how streets can help to build communities, civic and elected officials who realize that greater economic impact can result from changing the way that roads are designed, and citizen activists who understand that the time to change is now.

Presentations and discussion will center on how streets, roads, and transit facilities can be designed and managed to benefit communities, in addition to serving mobility needs. Practical tools for assessing a variety of street typologies and case studies of cities which have moved beyond solving mobility problems to community building will be presented, and participants will be encouraged to discuss their own projects as well as share experiences and ideas with each other.

Streets as Places: A Training Seminar

The following imagery was taken on October 26th.

San Diego 2007 Wildfires

There are three great cities in the United States: there's Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York – in that order.

I love Boston; I even love Denver; I like Miami; I think Washington DC is habitable; but Los Angeles is Los Angeles. You can't compare it to Paris, or to London, or to Rome, or to Shanghai. You can interestingly contrast it to those cities, sure, and Los Angeles even comes out lacking; but Los Angeles is still Los Angeles.

No matter what you do in L.A., your behavior is appropriate for the city. Los Angeles has no assumed correct mode of use. You can have fake breasts and drive a Ford Mustang – or you can grow a beard, weigh 300 pounds, and read Christian science fiction novels. Either way, you're fine: that's just how it works. You can watch Cops all day or you can be a porn star or you can be a Caltech physicist. You can listen to Carcass – or you can listen to Pat Robertson. Or both.

L.A. is the apocalypse: it's you and a bunch of parking lots. No one's going to save you; no one's looking out for you. It's the only city I know where that's the explicit premise of living there – that's the deal you make when you move to L.A.

The city, ironically, is emotionally authentic.

It says: no one loves you; you're the least important person in the room; get over it.

What matters is what you do there.

Now seems like a good time to offer some quotes from Swingers:

Mike: What the fuck are you carrying a gun for? What, in case somebody steps to you, Snoop Dogg?
Sue: Hey man, you're not from here, alright. You don't know how it is. I grew up in L.A.
Trent: Anaheim.
Sue: Whatever, man. It's different out here.

And this one, a bit longer, from the script:

                             MIKE
                        (indicating the ladies)
                   I'm going in.  Will you be my wing-man?

                             ROB
                   I'll be your winger.

        They make the approach.  With a great deal of effort, Mike
        catches their attention...

                             MIKE
                   Good evening, ladies...

        ... only to be interrupted by the party STOPPING to check
        another entrance.

        Beat.

        The party RESUMES and the blondes redirect their attention to
        Mike.  He is a little put-off but, God love him, he gets back
        in there.

                             MIKE
                   How are you ladies doing this evening?

                             BLONDE
                   What do you drive?

                             MIKE
                   I'm sorry?

                             BLONDE
                   What kind of car do you drive?

                             MIKE
                   Oh... a Cavalier.

        The blondes immediately enter back into their conversation as
        if they were never approached.

        Mike and Rob exchange defeated glances.

        One more try.

                             MIKE
                   ... It's red?

Greater Los Angeles | BLDGBLOG

Manhattan is pretty.

We don't know what prompted Agence France-Presse to charter a helicopter Sunday and send one of their photogs to take a bunch of aerial shots of the city, and we don't know what prompted Getty Images to distribute those shots in the middle of the week, but we're glad they both did.

More gratuitous urban-beauty shots after the jump.

On a Clear Day

A statutory rape case against a 42-year-old charged as a man took on a different look after a jail shower revealed the defendant is actually a woman.

The female victim and several prisoners at the Hamilton County Jail were among those surprised to discover that the person booked in the case as Alexander David Cross is a woman also known as Elaine Ann Cross.

Cross had been in jail awaiting a court appearance Wednesday, where she pleaded guilty to an aggravated statutory rape charge as part of a deal with prosecutors. The charge stems from a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl.

See also, Out-of-towners enjoy Murfreesboro hospitality:

"We have eaten at Chili's, Quizno's," she said. "We just didn't realize how big it was, the city and the campus."

Ball said they had been staying at the DoubleTree hotel on Old Fort Parkway, eating at places like Ruby Tuesday's and Carrabas.

"We've been all over," he said.

"Murfreesboro has grown so much," she said.

Crossed-Up Cross in Chattanooga