Yesterday I was in almost exactly the same situation as the writer of this article. I was sitting in my car checking messages in a vast grocery store parking lot in Red Bank, when a very elderly woman tapped on my window.  The woman’s car wouldn’t start and she didn’t have a phone. She asked me if I could try to start her car.  Luckily she had AAA, which I called for her, waited with her for a while, then left her hoping that the repair truck would indeed get to her within the hour as promised. The woman probably shouldn’t have been driving at all, and she wouldn’t have to if she could safely walk to the grocery store in Red Bank.

We have already come a long way in beginning to make Asbury Park a truly walkable city.  Some seniors are able to get out and navigate a relatively safe sidewalk to get to a market, or walk on the boardwalk and enjoy the pleasure of sitting by the beach or in a park in certain areas of the city…but not all.  We’re working on developing livable spaces and safe streets that provide and for the needs of the most vulnerable citizens.

THE ISOLATION OF AGING IN AN AUTO-ORIENTED PLACE

APRIL 17, 2017 
BY SARA JOY PROPPE

Read more…

https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2017/4/14/what-developments-mean-for-you-as-you-get-older

Evidence from in-depth studies have shown for people who live in cities both walkability and nature have positive effects on mental health, cardio vascular health, hypertension, diabetes, COPD, and asthma.

The Science Is In: The healthiest neighborhoods are both walkable and green

Read more…

http://www.placemakers.com/2018/04/03/healthiest-neighborhoods-both-walkable-and-green/

Posting this again for the beginning of the spring/summer season. Asbury Park Police launched a bike registration program last year.  If a bike is stolen it can be identified.  If you have a computer and Adobe you can do it online, or print and mail it in.  You’ll get a confirmation fast.

Just.Do. It.  This is so easy.

Register here…

http://www.cityofasburypark.com/egov/documents/1504267960_74095.pdf

Bike Parking Tips:

http://www.cityofasburypark.com/department/division.php?structureid=98

Do we want better laws for bicyclists in New Jersey?  Bicycling advocates in Delaware did, and they succeeded.  Learn how. (Spoiler: It starts with engaging the police.)

A NETWORK OF BICYCLE CRASH ATTORNEYS.

WE ARE A NETWORK OF INDEPENDENT BICYCLE CRASH LAWYERS WHO SHARE A COMMON APPROACH TO THE LAW AND TO HELPING CYCLISTS. OUR BIKE CRASH ATTORNEYS HAVE HANDLED THOUSANDS OF CASES. WE KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BICYCLE ACCIDENT AND BICYCLE CRASH, AND WHY IT MATTERS.

In October 2017, Delaware’S Governor Signed The Bicycle Friendly Delaware Act, Placing Into State Law Cutting-Edge, Pro-Bike Reforms.

“You say you want to change your state’s Rules of the Road even if the police are opposed? Bless your heart.

When it comes to the Rules of the Road in any state, the most important stakeholders are the police. Your state police will have a full-time lobbyist (or “liaison”) who attends every public safety committee meeting in your state legislature (and probably has been doing so for a decade or more). One way of attempting to reform the Rules of the Road in your state is to draft a bill without consulting with the police, find a willing legislator to introduce it, and let the chips fall where they may. Our comment on that strategy is “Bless your heart.” (According to Wikipedia, “bless your heart” is a phrase that is commonly used in the southern United States and which means “you are dumb or otherwise impaired, but you can’t help it.”)

Bike Delaware spent more time negotiating with the police on the text of the Bicycle Friendly Delaware Act than we did on any other aspect of the campaign. If you want to introduce a bill in your state legislature on a certain date, you should start negotiating with the police six months before that.”

Read more…

Best Bike Laws in the Country? Check Out Delaware.

See Just How Much Of A City’s Land Is Used For Parking Spaces

BY ADELE PETERS  07.20.17

Get a look at how much space is allotted to parking in cities around the world.

“At the moment, cars spend around 95% of the time parked, and only 5% of the time in use. Huge swaths of cities, either in parking lots, garages, or street parking spaces, are used as storage for cars (while, at the same time, many cities struggle to find enough land to build housing to keep up with demand). “There’s this huge space that’s basically wasted,” says Szell.”

“The visualization is part of a project called What the Street? that inventories parking lots in 23 cities around the world, along with the space used for roads, rail lines and rail yards, and bike paths and bike parking. ”

Read more…

https://www.fastcompany.com/40441392/see-just-how-much-of-a-citys-land-is-used-for-parking-spaces

Watch this amazing video and read about how pedestrians and bicyclists can cross the street safely while all vehicular traffic is stopped at streets in all directions in the intersection.  Prioritizing people over vehicles in a very big way!

Pedestrian scramble

Watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od6EeCWytZo

A pedestrian scramble, also known as scramble intersection (Canada), ‘X’ Crossing (UK), diagonal crossing (US), exclusive pedestrian interval, or Barnes Dance, is a type of traffic signal movement that temporarily stops all vehicular traffic, thereby allowing pedestrians to cross an intersection in every direction, including diagonally, at the same time.

It was first used in Canada and the United States in the late 1940s, but it later fell out of favor with traffic engineers there, as it was seen as prioritizing flow of pedestrians over flow of car traffic. Its benefits for pedestrian amenity and safety have led to new examples being installed in many countries in recent years.

Read more…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedestrian_scramble

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od6EeCWytZo

Travelling together alone and alone together: mobility and potential exposure to diversity

Marco te Brömmelstroet,Anna Nikolaeva,Meredith Glaser,Morten Skou Nicolaisen &Carmen Chan

Pages 1-15 | Received 02 Jan 2017, Accepted 13 Jan 2017, Published online: 02 Mar 2017

Abstract

Quantity and quality of social relations correlate with our happiness and physical health. Our (feeling of) connectedness also matters for the efficacy and functioning of communities and societies as a whole. Different mobility practices offer different conditions for being exposed to other people and the environment.

Excerpt:

“Travelling by car, using public transport, walking and cycling seem to offer radically different levels of interaction potential, especially with people outside one’s own social network and with the physical environment. This exposure potentially affects the level to which we feel connected to a certain place and society. ”

Photo 2018, Community bike ride in Asbury Park

Read more…

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23800127.2017.1283122

Thanks to Cycling Professor @fietsprofessor

Thanks to Urban Cycling Institute: urbancyclinginstitute.com

If you want cyclists to follow the law, you’ve got to make it possible for them to do so without dying.

“Cities get the cyclists they deserve. If you have good infrastructure, you will get good cyclists. It’s the same with drivers and pedestrians.”

BIKE SNOB

Read more…

https://www.outsideonline.com/2296681/ethics-breaking-traffic-laws

This is only the beginning of Asbury Park Complete Streets!  Shout out to Mike Manzella our Transportation Manager!

This article is from Strong Towns archives of most popular. Sound a bit familiar?  Asbury Park, having been “economically down on its luck but working toward a better future.”