CULTURE BUZZ: As the availability of urban apartment space continues to decline, a whole new style of library has begun popping up around the country. They’re tool libraries, and for just a few dollars a month members get access to a garage full of tools and community resources to help perform simple home maintenance and repair. In Philly, annual membership is only $20 a year and gets you access to cool tools like squirrel traps, lawn mowers, and chainsaws.

Contribute: Add an image, link, video or comment »

The Best Links:

1. The West Philly Tool Library
2. Community-Building Tool Libraries
3. Industrial Tinkering Place
4. Public Libraries for Tools
5. Tool Libraries: The Sharpest Tack in the Shed
6. West Philly Tool List
7. Building Dreams (Affordably)
8. Berkely’s Tool Lending Library
9. List of Tool Lending Libraries

SPORTS BUZZ: As New York and other large cities prepare to construct (or at least mark off) more bike lanes, a debate is brewing about their efficacy. Lax enforcement and a slew of fatal accidents are leading many cyclists to the conclusion that bike lanes are merely a token effort on the part of urban planners and city officials.

Contribute: Add an image, link, video or comment »

The Best Links:

1. Good Intentions, Questionable Results
2. The Case For Physically-Seperated Bike Lanes
3. Bike Lane of Death
4. Nice Ad, Idiots
5. An Unofficial Violator Database
6. “Gridlock” Sam Schwartz Says Lane Seperation is a Must
7. 22 Year Old is Struck and Dies on the West Side Highway Bike Path
8. There Are Some Who Disagree…
9. The Original Promise
10. A Sixth Avenue Bike Lane Death
11. A Double-Parking Fatality