Relax zoning so that property owners can realize higher returns via density. Relax parking requirements so that the development is spatially smaller. Organic development is not gentrification, it is investment.
The paths, lots, and blocks on Wards Island are illustrative of a pedestrian-oriented community. It is intimate and walking-scale. It clearly developed organically.
The lots and blocks on Algonquin Island are more standardized, and the paths are wider and straighter. Yet the lack of wide, curbed streets and driveways illustrate how one can have an auto-free neighborhood within a standard structure.
Streets carry the infrastructure of the city. In the transportation world, streets are seen largely as mobility networks. 3-in-1 streets opens the possibility to explore systemwide interventions.
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This blog responds to the fantastic paper “The Safe Systems Pyramid: A new framework for traffic safety.”. The paper describes a safe systems program based on those used in public health. My aim is to apply the ideas in the paper to my experiences in the industry. Safe Systems thinking is gaining a foothold in the USA. We have an opportunity to get it right, not simply add another E.
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“Streets are often designed to maximise the amount of space for motor vehicle movement. Yet vehicle movement and mobility are not one and the same. Mobility is about getting people to where they want to go, efficiently, conveniently, and safely.”
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“FiDi’s streets — New York’s oldest, the narrow, winding streets we inherited from the 17th century Dutch colony — are singularly ill-suited for the vehicle traffic we imposed upon them in the 20th century.”
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A blog about highways in cities. All too often the metrics used by practitioners favor highways over cities. Highways can connect between cities, but should not go into or through cities.
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In addition to greening the transport sector, let’s green the places we live, where urban design allows people to live their lives with minimal travel. The pandemic has taught us this is not only possible but desirable.
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A discussion piece on sidewalks that are signalized at driveways and the like. Thanks to @streetsblognyc for requesting and @schlthss for helping.
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Street design is a cousin of highway engineering, but with distinct differences. Speeds are lower, which allow greater flexibility. Streets must accommodate multiple modes, as opposed to a mono-modal highway. Streets must speak to adjacent structures, and vice-versa. Street design occurs building-in; highway design is center-line-out.
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