Livable Streets
Happy Thanksgiving
We do a lot of criticism here on Streetsblog, so in the spirit of the season we thought we'd reflect on what we in the livable streets universe have to be thankful for.
November 21, 2007
Congestion Pricing Will Make You Happy
An op/ed by Eduardo Porter in today's New York Times makes a passing suggestion that by reducing the number of people who do solo car commutes, congestion pricing would make New Yorkers happier.
November 12, 2007
Riding While Black or Just Riding?
From Robert Jones's blog This Is the Diaspora comes a disturbing tale (well worth reading in full) of how a beautiful bike ride on a sparkling fall day turned into a humiliating encounter with the police -- all because Jones detoured onto the sidewalk of Malcolm X Boulevard in Brooklyn for a few seconds to avoid traffic:
November 8, 2007
DOT Rolls Out the New Lower Manhattan Crosstown Bike Route
The street re-surfacing men and machinery were out in force in Soho last night. Houston Street Bike Safety Initiative Director Ian Dutton snapped this photo on Prince Street. Once the street is repaved, the Department of Transportation will stripe the hotly debated Prince and Bleecker Street bike lanes.
November 8, 2007
Jan Gehl: Gridlocked Streets Are “Not a Law of Nature”
It could have been just another gathering of urban idealists, agreeing with each other about how great it would be to have more public space for people, and less for cars.
November 7, 2007
StreetFilms: Upper West Side Streets Renaissance With Jan Gehl
A standing room-only crowd turned out for last night's Upper West Side Streets Renaissance event with Danish urban designer Jan Gehl and DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. All in all, it was an inspiring night and we'll have a more detailed write-up later today. Though Gehl wasn't allowed to get too specific about the work he is doing for the city, reading between the lines of his presentation, it was apparent that he is set to present some pretty groundbreaking ideas to Mayor Bloomberg. Word has it, Gehl is having lunch with the Mayor today. Hopefully the Mayor will be inspired too.
November 7, 2007
Envisioning an Upper West Side Streets Renaissance
If you're thinking about coming to tonight's Upper West Side workshop with Jan Gehl but you are having trouble picturing what a "Streets Renaissance" might look like, the video above was made for you. It consists of a series of photo simulations produced by New York City Streets Renaissance Creative Director Carly Clark.
November 6, 2007
Tune in to Brian Lehrer at 10:40am, WNYC, 93.9 FM
Open Planning Project Executive Director Mark Gorton and Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan will be talking about this evening's Upper West Side Streets Renaissance workshop with Jan Gehl on the Brian Lehrer Show, 93.9 FM, at 10:40am.
November 6, 2007
Gehl on Wheels
The Jan Gehl product roll-out continues apace. Last week, WNYC. This week, New York Magazine. Word has it Gehl's team will be presenting Department of Transportation brass with some pretty big ideas for street space re-allocation. In the meantime, enjoy another interview with everyone's favorite Danish urban designer:
November 5, 2007
“A Perverse Allocation of Public Space on the Upper West Side”
As we lead up to next Tuesday's big Upper West Side Streets Renaissance workshop with Jan Gehl (have you submitted your RSVP yet?) here is another StreetFilm delving in to the kinds of issues we hope to be talking about.
November 2, 2007