Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Urban Design

Cyclists and Pedestrians: Fighting Over the Scraps

By Aaron Naparstek | | 24 Comments
Cyclists and pedestrians somehow managing to get along with each other in Copenhagen. "Gridlock" Sam Schwartz’s op/ed piece in the Times City section yesterday is generating lots of discussion in the cycling community. Weirdly headlined, "Rolling Thunder," the editorial briefly examines the conflict between cyclists and pedestrians on New York City streets, acknowledges the antipathy that many walkers feel […]

DOT Culture: Stifling Innovation on NYC’s Streets?

By Aaron Naparstek | | 9 Comments
Upon re-reading this morning’s Times article on the new pedestrian countdown timers, I think it’s worth taking a closer look at this statement DOT Commissioner Iris Weinshall made at yesterday’s pedestrian countdown press conference. As reported: Mayor Bloomberg has been a fan of the countdown signals, but Iris Weinshall, the city’s transportation commissioner, had some […]

NYC Gets its First Pedestrian Countdown Timer

By Aaron Naparstek | | 9 Comments
Yesterday, the Department of Transportation installed New York City’s very first pedestrian countdown timer at the intersection of Coney Island Avenue and Kings Highway in Brooklyn. Gothamist, as usual, does a nice treatment of the story and roundup of the coverage. The thing I found most interesting about yesterday’s news was the fact that Mayor […]

T.O.D. in Brooklyn: Turning Parking Lots into Housing

By Aaron Donovan | | 12 Comments
Some reading ahead of tomorrow’s big Transit-Oriented Development forum at NYU… Public attention is focused on Atlantic Yards and condo towers under construction or planned from DUMBO to Long Island City, but the Brooklyn real estate boom is having subtler but equally profound effects on neighborhoods just outside the radar, and these changes are tremendously beneficial from a regional planning perspective. […]

Foreign Correspondent: Bogotá’s Lack of “Vibrancy”

By Aaron Naparstek | | 10 Comments
Before Enrique Peñalosa took over as Mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, this thriving downtown plaza was a decrepit, crime-ridden, traffic-congested slum. Peñalosa cleared out the old shacks, banned private motor vehicles, launched the Transmilenio bus service, created the plaza, and returned this public space to his city’s people. Granted, the neighborhood pictured above clearly lacks the First […]
Show More Stories