Category Archives: Street Design

Why Is A Private Company Allowed To Close And Design Public Streets?

UPDATE: The good news is that this has been to the Community Boards, which endorsed the plan—I don’t know why I didn’t find that in my searches or calls around this morning. It is good that there is some public … Continue reading

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Honestly, isn’t this building giving New Yorkers the finger?

UPDATE: When I first published this quick post in September 2014, for some reason it attracted comments from young architects who not only wanted to defend the building, but who saw my comments as ridiculous. In retrospect, it’s obvious that … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Classical, Culture, Current, Egotecture, Global, New York, Street Design, The Other Kind, Urbanism | Comments Off on Honestly, isn’t this building giving New Yorkers the finger?

Happy Earth Day — The 21st Century Is The New Sixties?

EARTH DAY reminded me of my old friend Konrad Oberhuber, an art historian at Harvard when I met him, who later became the Curator of the Albertina in Vienna. In 1983 I went on a Fogg Museum trip to Prague with Konrad … Continue reading

Posted in Bicycle, Classical, Culture, Current, Global, Historic Preservation, New Urbanism, Pedestrian, Street Design, Walkability | Comments Off on Happy Earth Day — The 21st Century Is The New Sixties?

Slow Street of the Day – Rue Norvins, Paris

Photo courtesy of Galina Tahchieva @ DPZ ALMOST ALL STREETS IN PARIS now have speed limits of 20 or 12.5 miles per hour (30 or 20 kph). The rue Norvins in Montmartre was already slower  than that. Why? Not because … Continue reading

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VV Redux: Carl Jung Talks About Traffic Engineers

The psychotherapist Carl Jung wrote about everything, including traffic engineers: All time-saving methods, to which alleviaton of traffic congestion and other conveniences belong, do not, paradoxically, save any time, but simply fill the time available in such a manner that … Continue reading

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Affordable Housing & The Boulevard of Death Followup

STREETSBLOG published this interesting image of a 1914 proposal for Queens Boulevard from the borough’s Chamber of Commerce. They also linked to a recent project for the Boulevard by a group called Planning Corps. I hadn’t seen either of these projects before (although … Continue reading

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