complete streets / road diets
Egalitarian Streets: Market Street 1905
This short film, shot from a streetcar on Market Street in San Francisco in 1905, shows a street screen in sharp contrast to what we experience today in most cities and towns across the United States. This scene may seem chaotic, but it seems to work well because all of the various road users are moving at roughly the same speed and all of the users must yield to each other.
Fast forward to 2010 and we find ourselves having traded this more egalitarian, shared space, street design for one that favors the speedy movement of one single mode of transportation (the private automobile). One might describe our contemporary street design as undemocratic (by giving priority to a single class of road users) in contrast to the scene on Market Street in 1905.
Closer to home, a similar street scene could be experienced on the streets of downtown Minneapolis and downtown Saint Paul during the early 1900s. Would we be better off with a similar scene today (without the horse drawn carriages, of course)? Are we currently living with undemocratic streets in Minneapolis Saint Paul and the rest of our cities across the United States?
Minneapolis Bike Plan
Minneapolis has published a draft of the first half of their new bike plan. Read more >
Streetcars, Anyone?
It seems that streetcars are making a comeback. This post over at the infrastructuralist shows that 45 cities have plans for extending or creating streetcar line(s). This is great news, but yet will make competition for $130 million funding even more difficult.
Again, PDX, who had the political will and capital to put in a streetcar years ago is planning to expand the service over the river to finally create the streetcar loop.
Just in case you didn't know, Minneapolis has its own plans for a streetcar network that should hopefully supplement the bus, LRT, and BRT (down the road) network we currently have. Plus here is the work done around the planned streetcar along our beloved Greenway.
Gordon Price on walking and density
Gordon Price talk excerpt from Livable Boulevards Conference, West Hollywood, California, October 6, 2006.
Portland Planning Commission enthusiastically endorses Bicycle Plan
Last Tuesday the Portland Planning Commission voted 5-0 to endorse the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030. It aims to reach an impressive 25% bicycle mode share by 2030. The plan builds upon the 1996 Bicycle Master Plan, which has lead to a doubling of bicycle lanes in Portland over the past 10 years. Now, nearly all Portlanders live within ¼ mile of a bicycle facility. The 2030 Plan focuses on extending the network of “family friendly” bicycle facilities, including Bicycle Boulevards, protected bicycle lanes and cycletracks.
But Portland bike advocates argued for an even stronger 2030 plan than currently proposed. Read more >
Changing Streets
From MPR:
About a month ago, Hennepin and First Avenues were converted from one-way, to two-way streets. The city made the switch on a weekend morning in order to minimize problems. City officials say so far the conversion has gone well, with a few exceptions.
"At first the cars were all parked, basically in the bike lanes," said Sophie St. Jacques on her bicycle as she prepared to continue north down First Avenue.
Have these changes made things better for cars, pedestrians, and cyclists? You can listen or read the story here. Read more >
Funding Alternative Transportation
Where did we go wrong with the stimulus money? It seems that alternative transportation did not and is not getting its fair share. Here are some facts about MN over at Transportation for America. Let's keep pushing for the changes we need moving forward.
Do You Feel Safe as a Pedestrian?
Yesterday a report from Transportation for America ranked the nation’s most dangerous metropolitan areas for walking. The report (link after the break) makes the case that incomplete streets are a major culprit in the deaths of thousands of Americans every year.
In response to the report, Minnesota Public Radio's question of the day is "Do you feel safe as a pedestrian in the Twin Cities?"
So, head on over to MPR and join the discussion. Let people know we need complete streets in Minnesota.
How Free Is Your Parking?
There is no such thing as a free lunch, and there is no such thing as free parking. Providing parking requires land, and land requires revenue to pay for its rent. Basic economic theory would have developers providing parking up to the point where revenue raised by last the car park equals the value of the next best land use alternative.
Minimum Parking Requirements (MPRs), by definition, force developers to provide parking above this economically efficient level, which raises development costs, subsidizes private automobile transport over other modes such as walking, cycling and public transport, and provides incentives to develop at low densities, encouraging sprawl.
Saint Paul Parking study: help or hindrance?
St. Paul has completed its parking study. From the looks at the PowerPoint (attached) we are going to be stuck with the sea of off-street parking we have become accustomed too. The motto is the "most livable city" in the US, really? With some changes we can take the next step to becoming the most livable city.
Please make sure you take the time to review the new parking study. We need to start catering to pedestrians, cyclists, and mass transit and need parking regulations and code that reinforce this. The new parking study only reinforces old norms that off-street parking is a must for any commercial or residential development taking place in St. Paul. Valuable square footage in the city will be set aside for cars, not people. Read more >
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