Ooops. I missed my weekly Friday 5 post this week! To make it up, I’ll include a bonus article this week. So here is the ‘Saturday 6’: a selection of the articles I found interesting over the past week.

• Free Parking Comes at a Price: Economist Tyler Cowan reminds us that free parking, which many people see as an entitlement, is actually a subsidy that wastes space and money. (New York Times)

• Planning, Not Just for Planners: Why the future of our cities should not be confined to file cabinets in municipal offices, or at best, grad school charrettes. (Next American City)

• Use it (transit) to lose it (weight): How light rail help communities lose weight. (NRDC Switchboard)

• A Scene for City Life: Not a traditional post, but an evocative description of city life. (Streaka Institute)

• Tolerance and a mosque: Tolerance is an essential aspect of urban life and western democratic principles. (Chicago Tribune)

• Libraries Advance Against All Odds: Returning to their forgotten roots may help libraries succeed in the future. (Citiwire)