Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Livable Streets

Are “Directional Miles of Bike Lanes” a Good Metric?

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Monday night I attended Manhattan Community Board 8’s pedestrian and cycling safety forum. There was an All-Star cast of panelists. Former DOT Commissioner Sam Schwartz, Manhattan DOT Commissioner Margaret Forgione and Director of Street Management and Safety Ryan Russo, Matthew Bauer of the Madison Ave BID, Traffic Enforcement Agents as well as other transportation experts. There were the usual complaints […]

When Streets Are for People

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U.S. urban centers large and small are following Latin American cities in periodically shutting off streets to cars, and they are reaping the benefits. The Christian Science Monitor reports that "at least 20" American cities are intermittently keeping cars out of public parks, with some planning to make the move to a permanent prohibition. Meanwhile, […]

New York Magazine Casts a Cynical Eye on “Bloomtopia”

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New York Magazine’s Chris Smith, who calls congestion pricing a trojan horse, suspects fewer cars and more trees may be a "green screen" for mayor Bloomberg’s real estate development agenda: Mayor Bloomberg’s Earth Day speech compiled 127 ideas for making the city more "sustainable" by 2030. But congestion pricing has dominated the conversation ever since. […]

Is Walking PlaNYC’s Missing Mode?

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  "Transportation has always been the key to unlocking New York’s potential." So begins the PlaNYC chapter on transportation, which for 26 pages lays out how the city can better meet the mobility needs of its existing population, plus an expected additional one million new residents, by 2030. While the document offers tantalizing details on […]

Ken Livingstone on Congestion Pricing in New York

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In his most recent article for the Guardian, London mayor Ken Livingstone applauds Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to introduce congestion pricing in New York City: New York is now to get congestion charging modelled on London’s successful scheme. Isn’t it about time the naysayers admitted they were wrong? Retail sales in central London are far outperforming […]