One of the most vital transportation links in the New York metropolitan region, the Tappan Zee Bridge is due for a major upgrade to satisfy growing travel demands.New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), New York State Thruway Authority and MTA Metro-North Railroad are working together to plan a new bridge that includes exciting possibilities for transit that will better meet the needs of Rockland and Westchester County communities along the I-287/I-87 corridor. Five design alternatives currently being evaluated by NYSDOT range from adding a bus-rapid transit (BRT) link across the bridge (both with and without a designated travel lane) to building a heavy rail link from Suffern to New York City.
A longtime proponent of “Building Communities through Transportation” and “Thinking Beyond the Station,” PPS was hired by NYSDOT, along with the Regional Plan Association and Reconnecting America, to conduct workshops with communities along the corridor to leverage the state’s transit investment and explore opportunities for transit oriented development. The Tappan Zee Bridge project is a terrific opportunity for communities to plan responsibly for future growth around transit and maximize the economic benefits of increased housing and transportation choices, as well as create jobs and improve overall quality of life.Proactive land use planning will also help preserve the state’s investment in new highway capacity.
PPS and its partners will hold two county-wide workshops around these issues this fall, with an open invitation to all interested communities. Specific topics may include creating great places around transit, smart parking, mixed-income housing, regulations and financing for transit-oriented community design, changing roadway design to support livable communities and optimizing transit service. Two-day workshops will then be held in the subsequent year in eight communities (four per county) consisting of in-depth discussion of local issues and local solutions, development of conceptual plans, and presentation of implementation tools. Communities interested in receiving this technical planning assistance must submit an application by July 17th. This pilot project is also intended for eventual deployment to communities across the state.
For more information, please contact Craig Raphael at craphael@pps.org.
What: A mainly pedestrian street lined with cafes, clothing shops, bookstores, restaurants and apartments above the street level.
Why it Works: Istiklal Caddesi is a lively, constantly changing scene. Throughout most of the 20th century, the street was famous for cars speeding down it and pedestrians were unwelcome. Recently, it has been turned into a pedestrian mall, and has become one of Istanbul’s most fashionable streets. If the main street itself weren’t attractive enough, the stroller can also step into perpendicular passageways that contain shopping galleries, food markets (with stalls for vegetables, fresh fish, and all sorts of unexpected things), or simply beautiful courtyards. This creates a dynamic pedestrian experience filled with choice. The area is easily accessible by bus from the nearby Taksim Square and by foot from several surrounding neighborhoods. There are always clumps of young people forming here, and as in other parts of the city, street vendors make their way through the crowds. Istiklal Caddesi is certainly a meeting place that gets heavy use by both tourists and locals.
Once upon a time, streets once belonged to everyone. They were a “commons” where people walked, biked, boarded streetcars,stopped for conversations. It’s where kids played and dogs napped.
But that all changed during the second half of the 20th Century.Streets became the exclusive property of automobiles, and everybody else had better get out of the way, or else!
An old Disney cartoon, starring a character looking likes very much like Goofy, shows how this Tragedy of the Street came to pass. It can be watched on the website of Bike Walk Twin Cities, one of many organizations that have sprung up recently to reclaim the streets as a public space that should be available for everyone.
The latest in urban planning, placemaking, and citizen action:
A gallery of gorgeous train stations of the past, together with their less-than-gorgeous replacements. [Infrastructurist]
Can neighborhood gardens build community in Cabrini Green? [ChicagoNow]
Small cities in British Columbia work to transform lifeless downtowns into vibrant places. [The Tyee]
Controversy over private festivals being held in Indianapolis’s public parks. [Indianapolis Star]
Proposed House transportation bill includes billions for public transit and high-speed rail, but lacks specific pollution targets. [SustainableBusiness.com]
MTA markets naming rights to NYC subway stations. [New York Times]
Transportation Secretary LaHood says USDOT is in a “transformational” moment, advocates livable communities. [TreeHugger]
Google tricycle captures “street views” of pedestrian-only parks and campuses. [Washington Post]
It turns out that roundabouts may be part of the panacea for our greatest traffic woes. Across America, towns and cities of all shapes and sizes have been choosing modern roundabouts over antiquated signalization equipment and expensive grade separated interchanges. The choice of a roundabout, or a modern roundabout, rather, makes sense for several reasons: they have proven to improve the flow of traffic, reduce cost, improve safety, and enhance the quality of place.
The idea of a “one-way rotary system” was first proposed in 1903 for Columbus Circle in New York City by William Phelps Eno, “the father of traffic control.” The Columbus Circle roundabout was built in 1905, and the idea quickly caught on in Western Europe. The first modern roundabouts in the US were installed in Nevada in 1990; but it has been a slow progression, after 104 years we only have about 1000 modern roundabouts in the entire country. France, on the other hand, leads the world with an estimated 15,000 modern roundabouts, and has been building them at a rate of about 1,000 per year.
One of the most touted benefits of modern roundabouts is their ability to improve traffic flow. Studies by Kansas State University have measured traffic flow at intersections before and after conversion to roundabouts. In each case, installing a roundabout led to a 20 percent reduction in delays. The proportion of vehicles that had to stop – just long enough for a gap in traffic – was also reduced. Because of their ability to reduce congestion, the Department of Transportation (DOT) of New York, Arizona, Wisconsin, Washington State, and Oregon, are at some point in the process of developing a modern roundabout program.
It may seem counter-intuitive, but modern roundabouts can actually improve safety while improving the flow of traffic. In March 2000, a report was published by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety entitled A Study of Crash Reductions Following Installation of Roundabouts in the United States, which demonstrated that roundabouts reduce crashes by 75 percent at intersections where stop signs or automated signals were previously used for traffic control. According to the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), there are several reasons why roundabouts are safe: 1) Low travel speeds – because drivers must yield to traffic before entering a roundabout, they naturally slow down, 2) no red lights to run – roundabouts are designed to keep traffic flowing without requiring vehicles to stop, so the incentive for drivers to speed up to make it through a yellow or red light is removed, and 3) less potential for serious crashes – since vehicles all travel around the center island in the same direction, head-on and left-hand turn (T-bone) collisions are eliminated.
Congestion and safety are often discussed, but what’s not often discussed is the ability of modern roundabouts to greatly improve public space. Increased safety promotes biking and walking, which increases the vibrancy of the place, activates the street, and has several other multiplier effects that can create a destination. Therefore, roundabouts can play important roles in creating a destination, not just an area people drive through.
In many instances, the roundabout itself can become a place. By adding a sculpture, water feature, benches, or other architectural feature that will attract attention, the roundabout can become a community focal point and even a gathering space. When you’re giving directions, meeting friends after work, or walking your dog, you may find yourself heading towards the roundabout. Now, how often have you walked your dog to the grade separated interchange?
Traditional intersections can serve as points of identification for a community, but they do not add to the sense of place. They are often dangerous places that are to be avoided. Modern roundabouts, however, afford opportunities for streets to be places, and allow the community to reclaim intersections as community space.
Below is an image of a Michael Wallwork designed roundabout that PPS proposed for a project in British Columbia. The image is an overlay of our roundabout proposal, on top of a traditional “jug handle” design, which proposes long and wide on and off-ramps. As you can see, the roundabout preserves a significant amount more land than the alternative design. The land preserved by the roundabout includes a park, residential development, and a community arts center; all very important community assets that would be severely compromised if the jug handle were built.
Several areas in the US have fully embraced the modern roundabout. Vail, Colorado was the first; they built a series of 5 roundabouts that eliminated 37 stop signs in the Vail Valley. But it’s the town of Carmel, Indiana that wins the title for implementing the most successful roundabout program. The suburb of Indianapolis has built over 40 modern roundabouts, with several more proposed.
Here is a short video of the Mayor of Carmel presenting the town’s roundabout program. I’ve also included several other links where you can find the roundabout information referenced above.
What: A revitalized park at the heart of a small Tennessee town.
Why it Works: Although Pegram Park is small in size it serves as the center of the community for the town and the surrounding county. It hosts numerous events throughout the year, including 4th of July parades, Christmas in the park, little league, easter egg hunts, political forums and music events. It is what “makes” the town of Pegram, which has grown from a small rural town and has turned into a small bedroom community. The first and foremost issue the community is working toward is safety and accessibility for all. The park is a center for community in a county that has very few community hubs. Community partnerships and volunteers have come together to find funding to upgrade the park and maximize its potential. A non-profit partnership group named Friends of Pegram Park made up of volunteers and citizens have designed a master plan based off of community input, have written grants, are fundraising and are working together with local government to implement the plan. The spirit behind this project has certainly made citizens become more politically involved in a time of change for the area.
One of PPS’s first major projects was adding benches to Rockefeller Center in New York to make it a more attractive as a place to gather.
Great public spaces resemble pornography, at least in the way the U.S. Supreme Court defines it: “You know it when you see it.”
Gazing upon alluring spots like the Old Town of Prague, Prospect Park in Brooklyn, or even the courthouse square in a small town, and you naturally think, “I want to hang out there!” You’re attracted to the place and want to be a part of it, watching the people pass by, soaking up the atmosphere.
While it’s easy to identify a great public space, it’s often quite difficult to create a new one today. Many projects setting out to establish a congenial spot for people to congregate — whether a park, shopping district, plaza, waterfront development, civic building, mall, or revitalized downtown — wind up as miserable failures that feel hostile to very idea of people enjoying themselves there.
William H. Whyte, a noted journalist and mentor to PPS, once observed, “It’s hard to create a place that will not attract people. What’s remarkable is how often this has been accomplished.”
One reason so few truly good public places have been built in recent decades is that urban planning today is pinpointed on specific outcomes— number of vehicles moved on the street per hour, sales revenue per square foot of retail space, or even unimpeachably admirable aims like the number of affordable housing units built. And these myopic goals are ardently pursued at the expense of creating a place that works for the public as a whole.
Development projects today are considered a success to the extent that cars move fast or cash registers go ka-ching . But they often fail at the equally important mission of creating lively places where people can feel happy hanging out with their fellow citizens. It’s another example of the tragedy of the commons. The value of a public place to the whole community is trumped by the narrow interests of retailers, motorists, etc.
It doesn’t have to be that way. Throughout the world you can find brilliant examples of recently built public spaces that also succeed marvelously as shopping districts (a number of new developments in already lively downtowns), transportation corridors ( Portland’s new Pearl District trolley line) or affordable housing (public housing projects like Park DuValle in Louisville and Diggs Town in Norfolk, Virginia, that have been transformed into thriving communities).
All that’s needed is a plan that takes into account a place’s broader role as a public spaces alongside other aims.
The latest in urban planning, placemaking, and citizen action:
The newest face in traffic calming: Brad Pitt promotes safe intersections in Russia! [Huffington Post]
The New York Times Magazine covers Parisian urban planning, Californian high-speed rail, future airports and waterfronts, and more. [New York Times Magazine]
Seoul takes steps to make public parks more female-friendly. [Korea Times]
In Chicago, several creative initiatives engage the public in online placemaking. [Next American City]
Cairo residents improvise to create places amid harsh urban conditions. [New York Times]
Slate examines the transformation of traffic patterns in Times Square. [Slate]
EPA, HUD, and DOT create partnership to promote livable communities. [EPA.gov]
Vote for your favorite farmers’ market and help it win $5,000! [Care2]
There are plenty of simple things everyday citizens can do to reenliven their local communities – techniques to engage with your neighbors, revitalize your street, and improve everyone’s quality of life.
Organize an art fair for the kids on your block
It’s easier than you’d think.The Neighbors Project has compiled a set of checklists of simple actions you can take to be more neighborly – from tasks as easy as saying hello to your neighbor, to more involved weekend or seasonal projects, like organizing a block party or community garden.PPS’s own Great Neighborhood Book is packed full of creative ideas for creating fun, safe, vibrant communities – inspired projects carried out by real people – that run the gamut from printing up neighborhood T-shirts, to (literally) tearing down backyard fences, to creating enjoyable public places in local cemeteries. Many of the projects in the Great Neighborhood Book are very low-cost, sustainable, and use only local resources and the brainpower of community members.
One example: the Meridian Hill community in Washington, DC, made efforts to improve the usability of its local park, which had a dangerous reputation. The community organized a simple, inexpensive park cleanup, filling over 400 bags with trash. Motivated by this success, the group went on to organize a series of arts events in the park. Within a few years, park crime had dropped by 95 percent, and park use quadrupled!
The Internet also holds lots of promise to help communities create real connections and share local knowledge.Check out Placeblogger’s network of local blogs, or EveryBlock’s news feed of information about your city. You can also share your best community placemaking ideas, stories, and questions by joining the Great Neighborhoods group at The Placemaking Movement, PPS’s own social network for placemakers.
It's not hard to get to know your neighbors
Do-it-yourself placemaking in your community makes good economic and environmental sense – but even more importantly, it helps you create a truly great place you’ll be proud to call home.
What: A thriving market with an incomparable mix of architecture and cultures.
Why it Works: The Zanzibar Old Town Market is a classic Swahili public space, mixing architectural and cultural influences from East Africa, Arabia, Persia, and India. Rather than the open-plan “plaza” of Western societies, descended from the Forum, the heritage of the Zanzibar market is the “Casbah” or “bazaar.” Thus, the market winds along dense city streets bracketed by the tall sandstone and white coral-wash mercantile buildings indigenous to the Swahili coast. The market is daily thriving with people seeking supplies for household board, from equatorial fruits to grains, fish, vegetables, and the famous spices. There are several different markets nestled throughout Zanzibar Old Town: some specialize in fresh-caught seafood, others in household wares, used clothes, local and imported cloth, jewlry, crafts, and tourist goods. The market defines civic sociability in a culture with very firm separations between private and public spaces. Zanzibar Old Town Market is a superior public arena because it is busy, industrious, purposeful, and valuable to people in the everyday conduct of life in the town.
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