Melissa Bruntlett | An Island Press Author

Melissa Bruntlett

Melissa Bruntlett is author of Building the Cycling City. She and her husband Chris Bruntlett are the co-founders of Modacity; a creative agency using words, photography, and film to inspire happier, healthier, simpler forms of mobility. Together, they work with a variety of organizations—including municipal governments, transportation agencies, non-profits, and corporate clients—to address the evolving needs of cities large and small, and enable a variety of mobility options as a way to create successful and more livable regions. They have garnered an international audience by sharing the stories of residents benefiting from these changes, and celebrating how designing streets for people makes them work better for everyone.
 
Melissa and Chris’ stories of emerging bike cultures from around the world have been featured in Momentum Magazine, Grist, Spacing Magazine, and the Huffington Post, as well as many local publications in their hometown of Vancouver. Best known as @modacitylife on social media, they continually challenge the auto-centric thinking that dominates the mainstream discourse, and present a compelling vision of a future where their two children (and countless others) can grow up enjoying the freedom of unlimited movement in a human-scale city.

Curbing Traffic: The Human Case for Fewer Cars in Our Lives by Melissa Bruntlett and Chris Bruntlett | An Island Press book

Curbing Traffic

The Human Case for Fewer Cars in Our Lives

In 2019, mobility experts Melissa and Chris Bruntlett began a new adventure in Delft in the Netherlands. They had packed up their family in Vancouver, BC, and moved to Delft to experience the biking city as residents rather than as visitors.

Building the Cycling City

The Dutch Blueprint for Urban Vitality

In car-clogged urban areas across the world, the humble bicycle is enjoying a second life as a legitimate form of transportation. City officials are rediscovering it as a multi-pronged (or -spoked) solution to acute, 21st-century problems, including affordability, obesity, congestion, climate change, inequity, and social isolation.