Strong Towns: How to Make A Walkable City

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO CREATING WALKABLE STREETS

May 2, 2018 by Rachel Quednau

What’s the value of a walk-friendly street? Why do our cities benefit from being safe places to walk? Read on to find out:

Here at Strong Towns, we’re advocates for a simple concept we like to call “slow the cars” because we’ve seen in city after city that slowing down cars makes our communities more prosperous and resilient — not to mention safer.

But, while this concept is simple, the reasoning behind it and the path to get to safer streets is, by no means, easy. Today, we’re sharing our ultimate guide to building slower, more walkable streets, filled with helpful articles and resources you can use to #slowthecars in your town. We’ve broken it down into 4 key sections that will explain why we need walkable streets, how to tell if your streets aren’t walkable, and resources for building walkable streets, plus inspiring stories that will demonstrate how to build safer streets.

May 4, 2018May 3, 2018

Car-Centric Street Design Leads to High Traffic Fatalities

HIT-AND-RUN DEATHS ARE SKYROCKETING, AND PEDESTRIANS AND CYCLISTS BEAR THE BRUNT

By Angie Schmitt May 1, 2018

“Overall, the AAA report is more evidence that America’s traffic safety paradigm is failing. Decades of institutional safety practices that treat superficial symptoms while overlooking the central role of car-centric street design and planning have left the U.S. with a traffic fatality rate far higher than peer nations. Life is cheap on American streets.”

May 3, 2018May 3, 2018

Finding Balance

“But, as with everything, we need balance. As we rejoice with the great stories of new restaurants and fun events in our cities, let’s remember that our attentions also need to focus on the complexities and intricacies of our cities, some of which are difficult to digest. Issues of poverty, equity, transportation, jobs, community health and diversity continue to be overshadowed by the bright lights of “progress” in our city centers.”

MAY 1, 2018
BY ARIAN HORBOVETZ

If we love our urban revitalizations, if we are excited to see the new brewery or coffee shop that opens near us, let’s also pay attention to the important aspects of our cities that might not be so colorful, but that might impact us all. Let’s pay attention to the things we claim to pay attention to.

https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/4/30/its-time-to-start-paying-attention-to-what-we-claim-to-pay-attention-to?utm_content=buffer478a8&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

May 2, 2018May 1, 2018

Copenhagen Wasn’t Always The Most People Friendly City In The World

Copenhagen Mastermind Jan Gehl Isn’t Sold on ‘Smart’ Cities

ANNETTE BECKER LESSANO NEGUSSIE APR 30, 2018

“Architect and planner Jan Gehl looks back on how he helped transform Copenhagen into one of the world’s most livable cities and talks about how people can reclaim the streets.”

It’s about phases.

“…Gehl discusses his observations and philosophies of how cities can become as bike-friendly, people-friendly, and climate-friendly as Copenhagen famously is.:

A cyclist rides past autumn-colored ivy climbing the wall of a building in downtown Copenhagen November 2, 2010. REUTERS/Bob Strong (DENMARK – Tags: ENVIRONMENT TRANSPORT SOCIETY) – GM1E6B21TQG01

Phases in Copenhagen-it starts with walking:

“I would say that the public space in Copenhagen progressed in phases. The first phase was to make it possible to walk. That was the period of the pedestrian street, the “Fußgängerstraße,” which lasted from 1960 to 1980. The next period, from 1980 to 2000, was the period focused on sitting and staying. It was the time when all these squares were freed of parking and all the pavement cafés started popping up—the expansion of the cappuccino culture. That coincided with having more leisure time—you are not just rushing out to work or to shop. This culture has been in the Mediterranean countries all the time, but after the 1980s and ‘90s, it really spread worldwide. Next is phase three. That is not about walking or sitting, but being active. It is about places for roller skating or running or bicycling or swimming in the harbor.”

May 1, 2018April 29, 2018

Cargo Bikes Are More Efficient than Trucks

Cargo bikes are so much more practical compared to trucks burning fuel, increased emissions, wasted time, and taking up space on streets. Delivery trucks are driving empty up to 50% of the time.

Sainsbury’s – back in the saddle after 60 years

“Sainsbury’s, one of the UK’s largest supermarket chains, has begun a cargo bike pilot scheme. A fleet of five Sainsbury’s-branded e-cargo bikes based at a store in Streatham, South London, will deliver online orders of groceries to customers within a three mile (5km) radius.”

Sainsbury’s trial there new electric delivery bike in Streatham, London. The Hercules e-cargo bikes have a box behind the rider for chilled and frozen groceries. Photo credit: e-cargobikes.com

“The aim is to establish whether or not deliveries by cargo bike are more efficient than traditional delivery vans in dense urban areas. Around 100 orders are being delivered daily during the trial; customers can choose a one hour delivery time slot. Routing software will determine which orders are sent by cargo bike and which will go by delivery van.”

Sainsbury’s delivery boy Harry, who worked at the Enfield store in North London. This picture was taken somewhere in the period between 1913 and 1915. Photo credit: Sainsbury”s Archive

“Our data shows that a single e-cargobike can deliver as many groceries in an eight hour shift as a van. There are many factors influencing this happy finding, not least the terrible trouble van drivers have with parking in London. It’s really difficult to park and when they do, they generally can’t park close to customers’ houses, so they end up doing a lot of walking backwards and forwards carrying boxes. Over a shift our cargo bikes are covering 12.3mph* on average, versus 3.4mph* for the van”.

*12.3mph = 19.8km/h and 3.4mph = 5.5km/h

April 30, 2018April 29, 2018

Riding A Bike From A Woman’s POV

When I commute or train on my road bike, or cruise around town on my basket bike I feel alternately strong and empowered, or vulnerable and endangered. There is rarely a ride of any type or duration that is without concern for my safety, yet I ride and I will continue to ride. This author needs to be concerned with her own health issues as well as her safety, yet she rides.

My Barriers to Biking Are The Same Reasons I Bike

by Frances Stevenson on April 18, 2018

“When I bike I defy those who catcall me, those who are trying to make me feel less safe in my city. From my perspective one of the best ways to make the city safer for women is to just be visible, don’t go away, use the bike lanes, use the roads, advocate for yourself by not letting other people change your commute.”

Fran’s Bike:

Polli’s Basket Bike:

Polli’s Road Bike:

April 29, 2018April 29, 2018

Asbury Park Events for May, National Bike Month

Be sure to mark your calendars and join APCSC and friends at upcoming National Bike Month events!

April 28, 2018April 28, 2018

Divided by design: Bikeway Implementation

Separated bikeways are clearly safer and will encourage more bicycling leading to economic, health and environmental benefits. But there needs to be a commitment from local city government, residents and voters.

A LOOK AT DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO SEPARATED BIKEWAY IMPLEMENTATION

ROADS&BRIDGES

WEB EXCLUSIVE SAFETY ARTICLE BY ROCK MILLER, MARCH 12, 2018

“A complete network of separated bikeways serving a dense city center can often attract 10% or more commuter trips to the city center from nearby neighborhoods. And once cyclists find that they enjoy commuting by bicycle, they are not likely to give it up. Bicycling can also serve many non-commuting trips, such as shopping, entertainment or schools. This can make a tremendous difference in areas where parking is difficult or transit is crowded because travel times by bicycle are often faster within the city center than driving or transit. But potential new bicyclists generally must feel safe and comfortable riding in bikeways and must be able to reach their destinations with minimal travel away from bicycle facilities.”

April 27, 2018April 25, 2018

End of US Traffic Deaths by 2050

“I don’t suspect the average American knows that 100 people are killed in crashes every day.”

U.S. sets a nationwide goal to end traffic deaths by 2050

“This is our moonshot”

By Alissa Walker @awalker Apr 25, 2018

April 26, 2018April 25, 2018

Bicycle Urbanism by Design

Does the automobile industry own us? When you scratch just a little below the surface, you discover that we live in cities that are controlled by strange, outdated mathematical theories, models and engineering “solutions” that continue to be used despite the fact that they are of little use to modern cities.

In this excerpt from “Copenhagenize,” author Mikael Colville-Andersen talks cars, playgrounds and how we can leverage design to reclaim our “life-sized” cities.

STORY BYMikael Colville-Andersen

PUBLISHED ONApr 23, 2018

“When the automobile appeared in our cities, it was an invasive species detested by citizens. Motorists were despised…”

“Here’s the baseline. We have been living together in cities for more than 7,000 years. By and large, we used those seven millennia to hammer out some serious best-practices about cohabitation and transport in the urban theater and the importance of social fabric. We threw most of that knowledge under the wheels of the automobile shortly after we invented it and have subsequently suffered through a saeculum horribilis in the urban context. Our overenthusiasm for technology and our human tendency to suffer short-term urban memory loss have further contributed to our zealous disregard for past experience.”

Asbury Park Complete Streets Coalition

Posts