#pedestrian friendly

[rphazarika]

Car-Free Streets in Oslo: A Bold Step Towards Sustainability

Oslo, Norway, often known for its beautiful fjords and cutting-edge environmental policies, has taken a transformative leap in urban planning by implementing car-free streets in the city center. This bold move is part of the city’s broader goal to become one of the most sustainable and livable cities in the world. With cities across the globe grappling with climate change, pollution, and urban…

Car-Free Streets in Oslo: A Bold Step Towards Sustainability

[sprawlnation]

Six reasons for the resurgence of car-free shopping streets

Following the rise of mall culture in the mid-20th century, many of America’s Main Street shopping streets and districts withered, replaced by the big-box retailers whose stores required space only the suburbs could provide. With the return to traditional walkable places and new mixed-use suburban developments, car-free shopping streets have witnessed a resurgence, thanks to the following trends and benefits. Call it a reboot whose time has come or an improvement on an old idea, either way these new shopping avenues demonstrate a street’s ability to support prosperous retail, especially when the pedestrian is prioritized over the automobile.

[starscreamhecatoncheries]

bubbles for bike lanes

DAY 0 of biking with bubbles until Ann Arbor builds protected bike lanes on East Stadium Boulevard.

Hey check out my friends site if youre in the Ann Arbor area. Shes been working to try and make the city more pedestrian friendly!

[backyardflaneur916]

I had a conversation with a yt dude simply because he was listening to the Smiths. Gawd, I used to love the Smiths until Morrissey became such a vain, self-centered, inconsiderate racist who sided with the conservative political party who is against immigrants in his country. The hypocrisy. He adored his Mexican fans many who were immigrants from Mexico or had parents who immigrated from Mexico. But I did not talk about that with this guy. I talked about my favorite song There Is a Light That Never Gets Out. As we talked the song played like on cue. I asked what his favorite the Smiths song. He said Ask. I think I over shared. But he was polite and quiet.

I saw two men sitting on a park bench. I said they looked like best buds. They admitted they just met and enjoying the view of the lake. The black guy was drinking from a bottle that had a cozy. I think he was trying to hide the fact it was alcohol. The Asian guy was all smiles. He was visiting family for New Year celebration. He smoked Marlboros. I was tempted to ask for a cigarette. The black guy said have a nice day to let me know he wanted to end conversation. The Asian guy was walking. He said that his city is small and did not have "this" meaning the lake and the view. He walked around. He said oh you go ahead. I think he wanted be alone with the view.

The yt dude about the Smiths admitted he was a Generation Xer when I asked. He asked me. I answered likewise. "Yes, unfortunately." He asked, "Why 'unfortunately'?" I responded, "Because I understand Gen Z but they do not understand me, and they do not care." Then he said, "At least there are Millennials and they definitely don't like them." I said, "We are Gen X. We understand across the generations. We are the bridge. But we don't care. We just let them duke it out. Cuz we are like 'whatever.'"

Idk why I talked about high school. He said this city was where he raised. I said I did not know what it was. It felt like a boughshee suburb. I did not know if it was suburbia or suburbia sprawl. I asked if it was always like this. He said it was country. I said there must have been elk at some time. Now I just see freeways. He said it was more ranching.

Then he said he needed to walk before it got dark.

[jbullockandassociates]

Could the “war on cars” be winnable? That’s what it looks like this week.

More and more U.S. cities are making moves towards environments that are more bike and pedestrian friendly. Learn about the plan, 'Vision Zero,' that's growing in popularity.

[anniekoh]

Walking in towns and cities has been undervalued and often ignored by planners. Most traffic research fails to statistically register walking as a form of transport, even though half the journeys made within towns are made on foot. The people who walk are, not surprisingly, those who probably most need some form of assisted transport - research has shown that young men walk least and old women and young children walk most. The use of the car is inversely related to the need for it! Although shopping is regarded as one of the great pleasure of contemporary culture, according to the National Consumer Council (1987), 'for many hundreds of thousands of consumers it is little short of a nightmare. They are the low income families, the single parents families, the elderly, the disabled and the non-car owners.' A survey in Milton Keynes showed that three-quarters of housewives do not have access to the family car during weekends. Few 'decision-makers' in the towns we studied had recently walked in and around the town centre, and it was nearly always assumed we had 'had trouble parking' when we visited planners and politicians in their offices, even though we invariably travelled by public transport.

p. 15 in Ken Worpole's Towns for people: transforming urban life. Open University Press, 1992. This 15 month study of 12 towns in the UK didn't offer much in the way of surprises, just a lot of fine-grained confirmation of current urban design practice. I excerpted this because of how it highlighted the lack of firsthand pedestrian experience in city government. 

Even at the launch of the Age-Friendly Initiative here in Honolulu, the first discussion item in our working group was what meeting venue has free parking. 

And more recently as I made a loop through the Alapai Transit Center, still shiny and new, with its undulating "bold statement"-type bus shelters, I had to wonder if the architects who designed the project had ever ridden The Bus in Honolulu. The oversize overhang would ably  protect waiting passengers from rain and morning sun, but did absolutely nothing to shade them from the hot blaze of late afternoon, which is when you want sun protection the most.

[klamiot]

you've just crossed over into...the walk only zone

you’ve just crossed over into…the walk only zone

Imagine if you will, a dimension for walkers only, “it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge”, it is an area which we call the Walk Only Zone!

Thank you Rod Serling for that attention getting intro!

A nifty new sign I’ve noticed this summer in and around city centers is the walk only sign.

Walk only zones are places that have been created so that pedestrians can feel…

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[jablogday]

Creating more pedestrian-friendly streets in general will provide spaces for interpersonal interaction and foster a sense of community that is impossible in a primarily vehicular road.