Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Zürich

Zurich: Where People Are Welcome and Cars Are Not

By Clarence Eckerson Jr. | Oct 15, 2014 | No Comments

When it comes to smart transportation options and city planning, Zurich can credibly claim to be the global champ. This Swiss city has enacted a number of policies and practices that have produced streets where people come first. Getting around and simply experiencing the city is a pleasure. How did they do it? In a 1996 city […]

STREETFILMS

Streetfilms Shortie: Cyclists on Rails in Zurich

By Clarence Eckerson Jr. | Aug 14, 2013 | No Comments

One thing that impressed me during my three days in Zurich was I saw no cyclists crash while navigating the surface rails for the 15 tram lines that run all over the city. I was told by some there are certainly problems, and crashes happen, but I saw some real pro rail-riding behavior. One of […]

European Parking Policies Leave New York Behind

By Noah Kazis | Jan 19, 2011 | 15 Comments

Flashback to Europe, sixty years ago. Just emerging from the ruin of total war, the continent was in the midst of a nearly unprecedented reconstruction. Over the next decade, industry finally was able to turn toward consumer products, from stockings to refrigerators and, of course, the automobile. Italians owned only 342,000 cars in 1950, but […]

Wiki Wednesday: Zürich, Where Transit Gets Priority on the Street

By Ben Fried | Mar 11, 2009 | 6 Comments

Ready for some transit system envy? This week’s StreetsWiki entry comes from Livable Streets member Andrew Nash, who fills us in on how surface transit became the mode of choice in Zürich, Switzerland: Photo: Nicholas Kibre/Wikipedia The first thing one notices about Zürich is that trams are ubiquitous downtown. The city considered changing its tram […]