GOOD Liveable Streets

There has been much talk lately about Liveable streets, esp now that the Complete Streets Act is in the Senate. GOOD Magazine (which I subcribe to and simply love) had this feature on their website today.

The article

"It’s easy to forget that our streets are alterable. They weren’t set down by God on the eighth day; they were designed by human beings. Unfortunately, throughout the 20th century, most of the human beings designing our streets were traffic engineers. For the most part, they viewed the city from behind a windshield and saw the street as a problem to be solved for automobiles. The result is the American city that most of us know today: sprawling, traffic-choked, hostile to pedestrians and cyclists, dependent on a vast, never-ending flow of cheap oil, and deeply unsustainable.

Streets can and must be more than just a place for the movement and storage of private motor vehicles. The urban street of the 21st century will be a “complete street,” accommodating pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders alike. At the Livable Streets Initiative we are helping citizens re-envision streets as great public spaces. Take, for example, the busy intersection of Amsterdam Avenue and West 76th Street in Manhattan"...

It has an interactive graphic that is really cool-go check it out.

In more local news, Anna and I went to a reception and talk given by Dan Burden on Walkable Communities. It was really hopeful and interesting. He said so many things that are obvious yet completely new to many people (i.e. designing your city to the people instead of the car), and he also showed streets in Birmingham that can be 'reclaimed' using the current dimensions. It is time to reclaim our city from the car!

you can read Anna's notes on the talk here