Driving is slowly killing us, a freeway expansion uncovers geological treasures, Londoners protest the city’s poor cycling conditions, what dive bar bathrooms can tell us about our neighborhood, and a quick look at San Francisco’s real underground (not BART). All in this week’s urban reads.

Can inner-city farms, pocket parks, and urban orchards really save dying metropolises? [Smithsonian]

Another reason to get out of the car: One hour of driving takes 20 minutes off your life [Winnipeg Free Press]

One good thing to come out of the 405 Freeway expansion in L.A.: Geologists have uncovered a trove of Jurassic-era rock layers [KPCC]

A new app by the Census Bureau uses population data to tell you where you should live [Next City]

When it comes to taking transit, people make irrational decisions: “Campaigns to target common misperceptions of transit—that it’s inconvenient, or that it’s unsafe—may be as important in some places as improving service itself.” [Atlantic Cities]

London cyclists (or people on bikes) staged a massive “die-in” to protest unsafe street conditions [The Guardian]

Department of Whoa: The cities of New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles each have economies larger than the country of Sweden [Atlantic Cities]

Urban graffiti in dive bar bathrooms can tell us a lot about a neighborhood [PSFK]

A creepy peek at the tunnels under San Francisco [Bold Italic]

When it comes to building, Tokyo and London are booming; New York and Paris are stagnant [Next City]

Opening image courtesy of nautamirari—who you should be following on Instagram. Got an Instagram of your own you’d like us to use in our next link round-up? Tag it #gizmodocities and we’ll be in touch if we want to post.