Cities.
Urban design, transit, civic tech, Open311, the city as internet
- Streetfilm about Bastille Day
Bastille Day on Smith Street is one of my favorite days of the year. It’s great fun: the streets are closed, sand is trucked in, and a giant Petanque tournament is held. But the tournament is just an excuse to be there: the real fun is the great food & drink put out by… Continue reading
- Coming soon… Pedestrian Power
I’ve heard this story in various forms over the past few years, but according to the London Times, pedestrian power is ready to be harnessed: Underfloor generators, powered by “heel strike” and designed by British engineers, may soon be installed in supermarkets and railway stations. The technology ...
- The new power broker?
Jonathan Maus, the prolific editor over at Bike Portland, did a very nice write-up of our session yesterday at the Towards Carfree Cities conference. The comments coming in over there so far have been amazingly positive, which is really encouraging. Btw, the photo, above, of Aaron Naparstek is weird...
- T-shirt roundup
Everyone is strutting their best transpo Ts here at the Towards Carfree Cities conference. Here are a few highlights… Official Carfree conference t-shirt. We’re trying to get our hands on a couple of these babies. Lots more after the jump. Updated many times so check back for new ones… Continue read...
- Big Ideas for a Small Planet: Transport
The opening keynote speaker at the Towards Carfree Cities conference is Mia Birk, from a bike/ped planning firm here in Portland called Alta Design. Check out the short episode of “Big Ideas for a Small Planet,” above, featuring Mia talking about the pedestrian & bicycle planning movement in Portlan...
- Real Estate Tours by Bike
Live blogging from the Towards Carfree Cities conference in Portland, OR… Next to our table, we found a real estate broker from Portland who gives bike tours of houses for sale. What a great way to see neighborhoods and get a taste of what it might be like to live in a place! Continue reading
- LSN at the Carfree Cities Conference
This week, a handful of us from the Livable Streets team at TOPP are out in Portland, OR visiting the 8th International Towards Carfree Cities conference. Tomorrow morning, we’ll be giving a presentation entitled “Street Fight! Lessons from the NYC Livable Streets Movement.” So far, we’ve had a gr...
- Coming soon… The Livable Streets Network
For the past several months, my coworkers and I over at The Open Planning Project have been hard at work on an important redesign and new product launch. I’m now excited to say that the final launch is, ahem, days away. Streetsblog and StreetFilms have been hugely popular since they launched two ye...
- Taking it to the streets
(ok, I obviously need to work on less cheesy headlines, but for the moment…) On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of accompanying TOPP’s latest hire, Kim Wiley-Schwartz, on a pilot session for her new Livable Streets curriculum. She’s developing an education program around Livable Streets that’s debuti...
- Streetfilms: Diverter
Elizabeth Press over at Streetfilms has been producing awesome stop-motion animations recently. The latest: Diverter. This short video shows how diverters can be used to redirect traffic flow and make intersections more friendly for pedestrians and cyclists. This is a great follow-up to Clarence Eck...
- Taking the train to work
Last Tuesday, Aaron Naparstek and I took in the Yankee game and watched the impressive Cliff Lee throw a 7-inning shut out and drop his ERA to 0.81, in what some analysts were calling “the pitching matchup of the season” (5-0 Lee vs. 6-0 Wang). It turns out, had we been a little earlier, we… Continu...
- Streetfilms Launched
I’m proud to announce the launch of StreetFilms, the new home of Clarence Eckerson’s short films about Livable Streets, and another site in the New York City Streets Renaissance family.Back when I was in college, riding the CalTrain to San Jose for work, I thought that one day I might make Public Se...
- Streetsblog Launched
I am happy to announce the launch of another great NYC website: StreetsBlog. A project of the NYC Streets Renaissance Campaign and edited by NYC transportation/planning blogger Aaron Naparstek, this site will take a critical look at transportation issues in our area. I’ve been a fan of Aaron’s writi...
- It’s My Park Day
This Saturday at 4pm in Carroll Park, Frannie will be unveiling her brand new splatter-painted garbage can! Continue reading
- Museum Mile Festival
If you haven’t heard about it, the Museum Mile Festival is coming up again this June 13th. Every June, 23 blocks of 5th Avenue (between 82nd & 105th Streets) are closed for a giant block party – pretty awesome. All the museums along the mile open to the public, and there are all sorts of… Continue r...