Urban Planning
Streetsblog Basics
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
Last Day for High Bridge Survey
In addition to the subway, the Metro-North, and the ferry, baseball spectators should have another non-auto option to get to the new Yankee Stadium: a restored car-free High Bridge.
September 7, 2007
Take the NYC Neighborhood Quality of Life Survey
Citizens for NYC, whose mission is to stimulate and support self-help and civic action to improve the quality of life in New York City neighborhoods, invites you to participate in their new Neighborhood Quality of Life Survey.
September 4, 2007
Transit-Oriented America, Part 5: Wrap-Up
Thanks all for reading and commenting on our non-motorized honeymoon travel series (see parts 1, 2, 3 and 4). Below is a table Susan put together to briefly summarize some of our observations on the cities we visited.
August 24, 2007
Central Park 66th Street Transverse Is Unsafe
A Streetsblog reader brings us an update on the case of the cyclist killed last December in the Central Park Transverse, through information obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request.
August 22, 2007
Speak Up for an Accessible Car-Free High Bridge
In other parks news, as reported on Streetsblog in June, the car-free High Bridge is poised to undergo a long-awaited restoration. Built as part of the Croton Aqueduct, the bridge connects Washington Heights in Manhattan with the Bronx neighborhood of High Bridge, near Yankee Stadium. In April, during his PlaNYC unveiling, Mayor Bloomberg announced that the city would be allocating $60 million to restore and reopen the High Bridge, which has been closed to the public since 1970; another $5 million will come from a Congressional earmark.
August 21, 2007
The Urban Transportation Report Card
Transportation Alternatives has teamed up with cycling advocates from Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle to issue the Urban Transportation Report Card (PDF), which rates these cities' progress on greening their transportation systems. The report notes that transportation accounts for 20-60% of carbon emissions in major U.S. cities, so it is very encouraging that in each city the most significant growth occurred in bicycling, with Chicago registering an 80% increase in cyclists from 1990-2000.
August 20, 2007