Public Space
Streetsblog Basics
Myrtle Ave. Parking Spot Becomes a Park and Classroom
The first round of Park(ing) Day photos are coming in. Here is a public space reclamation project currently underway on Myrtle Avenue in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. Blaise Backer, executive director of the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership explains:
September 21, 2007
Making the Case for Compact Development
From the people at Smart Growth America comes word of a new book, Growing Cooler: The Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change, just out from the Urban Land Institute. In the book, researchers argue that more compact development (such as Atlantic Station, a mixed-use complex in Atlanta built on reclaimed industrial land, shown at right) must play a key role if this country is to reduce emissions:
September 21, 2007
NYC Gets Its First-Ever Physically-Separated Bike Path
The Department of Transportation revealed plans for New York City's first-ever physically-separated bike lane, or "cycle track," at a Manhattan Community Board 4 meeting last night. The new bike path will run southbound on Ninth Avenue from W. 23rd to W. 16th Street in Manhattan. Unlike the typical Class II on-street bike lane in which cyclists mix with motor vehicle traffic, this new design will create an exclusive path for bicycles between the sidewalk and parked cars.
September 20, 2007
No Vote on Stadium Deal by Bronx Borough Board
We wrote a couple weeks back that one of the problems with the new Yankee Stadium parking subsidy deal is that the Bronx Borough Board has yet to vote on it -- perhaps because board members, along with the borough president himself, are still waiting for information on the project from the Industrial Development Agency.
September 20, 2007
German Town Chooses Human Interaction Over Traffic Signals
Driving (carefully) with Dutch "shared space" guru and traffic engineer Hans Monderman.
September 14, 2007
Does New York Need a ‘New Moses’?
Okay, so the question comprising the title of this post sounds naive enough to border on rhetorical. But in light of the city's current development climate, it takes a stronger resolve than mine to read "Power Broken," by NYU's Thomas Bender, without wondering which side of the fence to come down on.
September 13, 2007
A Gehl Dispatch From Down Under
We reported yesterday that noted Danish urbanist Jan Gehl will soon be surveying New York streets with an eye toward improving them for human use. Gehl has been working in Sydney, Australia as of late, and an essay he wrote for the Sydney Morning Herald offers insight into what he may be looking for here in the city.
September 13, 2007