Speaking to the Earth Dialogues forum in Brisbane, Australia, former Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev and other delegates said that local leaders "should put ordinary residents at the centre of urban design and planning, and make cities more pedestrian-friendly," according to a report from News Ltd. online.
Gorbachev currently chairs Green Cross International, an environmental policy group.
Sadly, focusing on making a pleasant environment for average citizens on foot is a revolutionary concept in too many communities these days. But one only has to look at where it's been done successfully - Newbury Street in Boston, for example - to see that it can be economically successful as well as aesthetically pleasing.
July 26, 2006
North End Residents Battle Gentrification
"A wave of condo conversions is wiping out the North End’s mom-and-pop cafes and homey convenience stores, sparking a revolt in the tightly knit neighborhood," the Boston Herald reports. "Dozens of North End residents and activists packed a City Hall hearing yesterday to blast a proposal by a local developer to turn what had been the home of Prince Pantry into luxury condos.
"Faced with a small army of angry residents, the developer withdrew plans to convert the Prince Street building, though the one-time grocery store appears gone for good. A vote by the city’s Zoning Board of Appeal left open the door for another condo proposal."
It's a tough dilemma for a neighborhood that's becoming even more economically attractive to redevelopment now that the elevated highway between it and downtown has been torn down. "At stake, say North End residents, is a way of life," the Herald notes. "With corner groceries and shops all within walking distance, longtime neighborhood residents haven’t needed a car to get around."
The North End's great, unique streetscape is one of the chief attractions that lures tourists (and suburbanites like me) to the area to dine and stroll. But for residents, the ability to walk to locally owned stores offers a viscerally appealing sense of place amidst an increasingly chain-stored, strip-malled America.
"It's a way of life that does not require inserting a key into a car to get a quart of milk," resident Tommye Mayer told the Herald.
Economics may make a high-end condo development more appealing than a small grocery store in the short term, but the city will lose something very special (not to mention lots of tourist dollars) if it allows the North End's special ambiance to morph into just another neighborhood of condo-dwellers.
"Faced with a small army of angry residents, the developer withdrew plans to convert the Prince Street building, though the one-time grocery store appears gone for good. A vote by the city’s Zoning Board of Appeal left open the door for another condo proposal."
It's a tough dilemma for a neighborhood that's becoming even more economically attractive to redevelopment now that the elevated highway between it and downtown has been torn down. "At stake, say North End residents, is a way of life," the Herald notes. "With corner groceries and shops all within walking distance, longtime neighborhood residents haven’t needed a car to get around."
The North End's great, unique streetscape is one of the chief attractions that lures tourists (and suburbanites like me) to the area to dine and stroll. But for residents, the ability to walk to locally owned stores offers a viscerally appealing sense of place amidst an increasingly chain-stored, strip-malled America.
"It's a way of life that does not require inserting a key into a car to get a quart of milk," resident Tommye Mayer told the Herald.
Economics may make a high-end condo development more appealing than a small grocery store in the short term, but the city will lose something very special (not to mention lots of tourist dollars) if it allows the North End's special ambiance to morph into just another neighborhood of condo-dwellers.
July 22, 2006
Wanted: Not Just Any Business
In Framingham, there's been a lot of concern about properties coming off the tax rolls. Beside the often-acrimonious debate over social services (and how much is too much), is worry any time a building, land or use changes over from tax-paying to tax-exempt. But I've heard much less discussion about the type of businesses the town wants to attract in various business districts -- and I don't just mean characteristics like respectable, not too noisy and not too much traffic.
The NY Times reported recently that Morristown, N.J. is starting to worry about all the bank branches cropping up in its downtown center. "What's wrong with banks?" you ask.
If you want a thriving downtown with lots of foot traffic through the evening, you can't have a lot of things like ground-floor banks or insurance companies on key shopping streets, because they close early. If you're building mixed-use in a commercial center, you need the mixture to include enough activity to encourage residents to come out both day and night, as well as an appealing streetscape. Walk through Boston's Downtown Crossing sometime after 8 pm, even in summer, and you'll see what I mean. What's a bustling retail center by day becomes a ghost town by night -- not the pleasant quiet of a tranquil residential street like Back Bay's Commonwealth Avenue, but the creepy silence of being surrounded by empty, dark buildings.
"It's a relatively new issue, but we think that as demand for retail space in downtown areas increases, it will become an increasingly important topic, especially in areas where there is a limited amount of on-street retail space," David M. Feehan, president of the International Downtown Association,told the Times.
Locally, I hope we're not so eager to bring new investment downtown that nobody's paying attention to retail and commercial mix.
The NY Times reported recently that Morristown, N.J. is starting to worry about all the bank branches cropping up in its downtown center. "What's wrong with banks?" you ask.
If you want a thriving downtown with lots of foot traffic through the evening, you can't have a lot of things like ground-floor banks or insurance companies on key shopping streets, because they close early. If you're building mixed-use in a commercial center, you need the mixture to include enough activity to encourage residents to come out both day and night, as well as an appealing streetscape. Walk through Boston's Downtown Crossing sometime after 8 pm, even in summer, and you'll see what I mean. What's a bustling retail center by day becomes a ghost town by night -- not the pleasant quiet of a tranquil residential street like Back Bay's Commonwealth Avenue, but the creepy silence of being surrounded by empty, dark buildings.
"It's a relatively new issue, but we think that as demand for retail space in downtown areas increases, it will become an increasingly important topic, especially in areas where there is a limited amount of on-street retail space," David M. Feehan, president of the International Downtown Association,told the Times.
Locally, I hope we're not so eager to bring new investment downtown that nobody's paying attention to retail and commercial mix.
July 18, 2006
D.C. Police Nail Drivers Who Don’t Stop For Pedestrians
Washington, D.C. police were recently pulling over and ticketing drivers who didn't stop for pedestrians in crosswalks -- those pedestrians being undercover police officers, the Washington Post reports. Good for them! As a pedestrian in the Boston area, I frequently see cars whiz by as I'm already in a clearly marked crosswalk, and it's dangerous.
No, I don't want to hear the old, "with all the serious crime in D.C., don't the police have anything better to do?" Pedestrian deaths accounted for 43% of all traffic fatalities in Washington this year, the paper notes. There isn't anything better to be doing than trying to save people's lives.
No, I don't want to hear the old, "with all the serious crime in D.C., don't the police have anything better to do?" Pedestrian deaths accounted for 43% of all traffic fatalities in Washington this year, the paper notes. There isn't anything better to be doing than trying to save people's lives.
July 15, 2006
Oregon town’s downtown ’serves people, not cars’
"The thousands who stream into [Sherwoood, Ore.] this weekend for the annual Robin Hood Festival, billed as a 'Renaissance faire,' will be entering a downtown undergoing another kind of revival. A $6.5 million streetscape project, paid for with urban renewal money, is remaking Old Town into an example of what's commonly referred to as 'new urbanism.' The twist is that what's labeled new is actually a reflection of an earlier time, when city development was done to accommodate people, not cars," according to the Oregonian.
Along with new lights, traffic barriers, benches and bike racks, the article says, several downtown blocks have "curbless streets," designed to "broaden the function of a city street and slow traffic."
"Instead of viewing streets as a mechanism to move cars, we're viewing streets as a public space," Rob Dixon, Sherwood's community development director, told the Oregonian.
"The design of the curbless street says this is public space for pedestrians, bicycles, strollers and SUVs also. The more traditional street says this is a road for cars, and you take your life in your hands if you're in anything other than a car."
What a great thought: Streets are public space shared by pedestrians, cyclists and motorized vehicles.
Is it that way in your town? If you try walking around most local suburbs -- and by "walk," I don't mean a well-defined, "safe" exercise or dog-walking route, but walking to actually get somewhere you need to go -- you'll soon agree with the "take your life in your hands" part.
If I try to walk to the bank from my office, in theory less than a 10-minute walk, it's almost always harrowing, because it involves trying to cross Rte. 30 on foot. Ever try that? Yet there's absolutely no reason why crossing a multi-lane east-west thoroughfare should feel so frightening. I do it all the time on Beacon Street in Brookline around Coolidge Corner, and there are well-designed crossings that let pedestrians feel comfortable while traffic still gets through. It's all about design -- but if you don't design with the idea in mind that pedestrians are as important as through traffic, you end up with the type of pedestrian-hostile major roads seen in too many American communities.
Along with new lights, traffic barriers, benches and bike racks, the article says, several downtown blocks have "curbless streets," designed to "broaden the function of a city street and slow traffic."
"Instead of viewing streets as a mechanism to move cars, we're viewing streets as a public space," Rob Dixon, Sherwood's community development director, told the Oregonian.
"The design of the curbless street says this is public space for pedestrians, bicycles, strollers and SUVs also. The more traditional street says this is a road for cars, and you take your life in your hands if you're in anything other than a car."
What a great thought: Streets are public space shared by pedestrians, cyclists and motorized vehicles.
Is it that way in your town? If you try walking around most local suburbs -- and by "walk," I don't mean a well-defined, "safe" exercise or dog-walking route, but walking to actually get somewhere you need to go -- you'll soon agree with the "take your life in your hands" part.
If I try to walk to the bank from my office, in theory less than a 10-minute walk, it's almost always harrowing, because it involves trying to cross Rte. 30 on foot. Ever try that? Yet there's absolutely no reason why crossing a multi-lane east-west thoroughfare should feel so frightening. I do it all the time on Beacon Street in Brookline around Coolidge Corner, and there are well-designed crossings that let pedestrians feel comfortable while traffic still gets through. It's all about design -- but if you don't design with the idea in mind that pedestrians are as important as through traffic, you end up with the type of pedestrian-hostile major roads seen in too many American communities.
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