Quality of Life
Streetsblog Basics
Nasty Newsrack Photo Contest Finalists
The Municipal Art Society will be announcing the winner of its Nasty Newsrack Photo Competition tomorrow.
November 12, 2007
The Bogotá Transformation: Vision and Political Will
Last week's saga of MTA workers seizing bicycles locked to a subway stair railing in Brooklyn illustrated, yet again, just how far New York City has to go towards making bicycles an integral part of the city's transportation system. As Larry Littlefield aptly commented, "The MTA doesn't see bikes as an extension of the transit system. It's a new concept here."
October 29, 2007
Illinois Adopts “Complete Streets” Into Law
The National Complete Streets Coalition reports on an important victory for the livable streets movement in Illinois. A new law mandates that the principles of complete streets must be incorporated into all new projects and construction, effective immediately.
October 17, 2007
The World’s Greenest, Most Livable Cities
Writing in this month's Reader's Digest, Matthew Kahn, an environmental economist at UCLA's Institute of the Environment, analyzed data from 141 nations and ranked the planet's greenest, most livable places.
October 8, 2007
Doubts About DOT Congestion Prescription in Jax Heights
Community activists in Jackson Heights have been complaining about congestion at the corner at 73rd St. and 37th Ave. (right) for years. A major traffic study of the area is underway, but according to a DOT spokesman, the department didn't want to wait to implement "short-term initiatives" that could ease the problem. Problem is, some of the activists--including Will Sweeney of the Western Jackson Heights Alliance--aren't necessarily thrilled with the department's solution.
October 3, 2007
DOT Minds the GAP
With city workers pouring concrete in the background (and StreetFilms' cameras rolling), New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan announced pedestrian and cyclist improvements for Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza yesterday. The plan calls for 11,000 square feet of new, landscaped pedestrian islands, a separated bike path, new crosswalks and pedestrian signals.
October 2, 2007
Fresh Direct Responds to Environmental Critics
FreshDirect, the company that has built a grocery empire, in part, by using New York City's free, public streets as their virtual warehouse, sent out an e-mail yesterday to let customers know of five new environmental initiatives the company is undertaking. While the company's non-union truck drivers may still be double-parking, creating traffic congestion and driving recklessly through your neighborhood, rest assured that their trucks' tailpipe emissions will smell more like greasy Chinese food than diesel particulate matter:
October 2, 2007