Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Public Space

The Benefits of a “Road Diet.”

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As the Department of Transportation’s "Road Diet" plan for Brooklyn’s 9th Street stirs up the ire of a small but well-organized and politically-connected group of home and car owners, it’s worth taking a look at this Parsons Brinckerhoff presentation, "Applying the Road Diet for Livable Communities." PB’s case studies show that, after properly executed Road Diets, car crashes and […]

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. […]