Out of Town
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File Under: No Wonder New York City is Falling Behind London
While New York City inexplicably continues to open up Central Park to motor vehicles from Thanksgiving to New Year's as a "holiday traffic mitigation," London transformed its most popular shopping area this weekend into a car-free pedestrian zone for holiday shoppers and visitors. Stretches of Oxford and Regents Streets were made into car-free zones this Saturday, December 2 from 10:30 am to 5:00 pm. Mayor Ken Livingstone wants to transform Oxford Street into a permanent pedestrian zone with light rail running down the middle. This weekend's event was set up as a test. This London reports:
December 5, 2006
Sidewalk Parking Opponents Gain Ground in . . . Where?
It is hard to tell exactly where the sidewalk meets the street above, where cars dominate the streetscape and wreck the pedestrian experience. Maybe that's what's to be expected in Los Angeles, where the photo was taken.
December 1, 2006
Happy Holiday
Sunday Afternoon Traffic: Copenhagen, Denmark. Sunday, October 1, 2006
November 22, 2006
Speed Hump
Cutting-edge European traffic calming techniques seem to be having a bit of an American zeitgeist moment. Two pieces of evidence:
November 21, 2006
Electrification of the Region’s Rail
One of those subtle aspects of life that serves to normalize auto transport as the only thing going is the way most maps are designed to barely include railroad tracks and stations, presumably so as to avoid interfering with roads and Interstates and their giant identification shields. But when we plug some fun data into Google mashup mapping, it is clear that the rail system serving the metropolitan area is extensive, probably more extensive than most people realize. This screenshot shows the location of stations served by New York City's four passenger railroads: Metro-North in blue, NJ Transit in green, the LIRR in red and Amtrak in purple.
November 20, 2006
Transit-Oriented Development in Jersey City
Last week Alec posted a vision for transit-oriented development that was met by the Streetsblog commenters with less than universal enthusiasm. While we are on the subject, I submit a vision being acted upon that I find close to ideal. Here we see Jersey City, specifically the two blocks of Newark Avenue between Erie Street and Christopher Columbus Drive. The large building under construction in the background sits atop the Grove Street PATH station, a spot of land that represented an excellent opportunity for high density growth because it was formerly a collection of parking lots with a half dozen low-rise buildings including what looks like it was an automobile service garage.
November 17, 2006
A Streetsblog Reader Wins Traffic Calming Improvements
Here is a contribution from Sean Roche, a Streetsblog reader in Newton, Massachusetts, a suburb just west of Boston.
November 16, 2006
Mayor Livingstone: $50 to Drive an SUV into Central London
London Mayor Ken Livingstone said yesterday that he wants to introduce an emissions-based congestion charging fee in an attempt to reduce his city's carbon dioxide output and to encourage cleaner transportation. The mayor's proposal is to charge the heaviest polluting vehicles emitting 225 grams of CO2 per kilometer, a £25 fee to drive into London's Central Business District. At today's exchange rate that is the equivalent of $47.50 in US dollars. Livingstone said:
November 15, 2006