Category Archives: Slow Streets

Traffic Flow and the Status Quo: There are better ways to spend $10 billion than rebuilding the BQE

New York City plans to spend more than $10 billion on a project that will speed up climate change and increase the number of New Yorkers killed by traffic and pollution. The good news is that the city will hold … Continue reading

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Car Free Brooklyn Bridge – photos and drawings

A Car-Free Brooklyn Bridge Is Possible Images and Illustratons AFTER: Aerial view looking east towards a car-free Brooklyn Bridge. Centre Street and Park Row next to the Brooklyn Bridge are reimagined as an extension of City Hall Park. © 2020 … Continue reading

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“My Open Letter to NYC DOT Commissioner Rodriquez”

Dear Commissioner Rodriquez, I’m writing to you because I just signed up for a workshop to improve Canal Street that your department is running tonight. I met you when you were a Councilman. I know you care deeply about making … Continue reading

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We Built This City To Walk And Stroll

“What if we treated historic districts historically, making the cars accommodate the city, rather than the other way around?”

Posted in Architecture, Beauty, Bicycle, Classical, Culture, Current, Good Kind, Historic Preservation, Local, New Urbanism, New York, Pedestrian, Personal, Quote of the Day, Slow Streets, Street Design, Urbanism, Video, Walkability | Comments Off on We Built This City To Walk And Stroll

Tales From My Privileged Youth

I WAS LUCKY. I was sitting around with friends during the spring term of my senior year in college. “I want to go to Europe,” I said. “How can I get a job there?” “Call Franco at the Red Garter … Continue reading

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Crain’s New York: Change the Streets & Change the City

My op-ed in Crain’s New York is in the magazine this week and has been online for more than a week. The online version is longer than the print version but is behind a paywall. You can buy access to both … Continue reading

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My Recent Op-Eds

New York Times New York Daily News (print) Crain’s New York Business (print) Streetsblog NYC City Limits Many others in local papers and publications like the Berkshire Record and The Patent Trader. For a complete list, click here. Bonus: Two … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Beauty, Bicycle, Classical, Culture, Current, Global, Historic Preservation, Live from New York, New Urbanism, New York, Pedestrian, Slow Streets, Street Design, The Other Kind, Urbanism, Walkability | Comments Off on My Recent Op-Eds

#OpenBrooklynBridge

#OpenStreets + #CarFreeBroolynBridge = #OpenBrooklynBridge Simple back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that within one year motor vehicle traffic would decrease by 100%, bicycle traffic would increase more than 1100%, and there would be twice as many pedestrians as on the High Line. … Continue reading

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My Streetsblog Op-Ed: If Not Now, When? Changing the Car Culture

“We worked for years to reduce car use. If everybody drives a car, there is no space for people, there is no space to move, there is no space for commercial activities outside the shops.” ~ Milan deputy mayor Marco … Continue reading

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A Chicane Is Not A Shared Space Place

A space is only a place if people want to be there. The chicane shown above is for traffic calming, not placemaking. Putting that another way, it’s a product of traffic engineering, not a piece of urban design. I understand … Continue reading

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Streets for People, or Streets for Profit?

My Op-Ed at City Limits (click to read) Excerpt: AVs will be programmed to stop immediately if a pedestrian steps in front of them to cross the street—and we all know that given the opportunity, New Yorkers will do that … Continue reading

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Seaside, Battery Park City, the State of Our Streets, and New Urbanism

I RECENTLY spent a week in Seaside, where I was once Town Architect. In honor of Seaside, I’m uploading two essays from Street Design, The Secret to Great Cities and Towns. The first is the opening of the chapter on … Continue reading

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