Asbury Park Complete Streets Coalition

Asbury Park is in planning and development to create “people oriented” streets (this post is for the few business owners on Main Street who worry that fast-moving cars are better for business than slower speeds, and improved bikability and walkability) because “…not only because they’re safer or because they enable people to get around affordably without a car. It’s also — and chiefly — because they are more economically productive.”

“A WORD OF CAUTION

If there’s one thing you should take away from this discussion of walkable streets, it’s the necessity of narrowing many of our roadways (items 1 and 2 on our checklists). The other features mentioned above — on-street parking, sufficient sidewalks etc. — are all fairly meaningless if you don’t have narrow streets. It can actually be harmful to invest in these sorts of features if you don’t also narrow the streets around them, because you’re sending the mixed message to people that a) they should walk there, but b) it won’t actually be safe for them to do so because cars will be driving too fast. Not to mention it’s a waste of municipal funding to build a beautiful new sidewalk that no one is actually going to use because it’s dangerous and unpleasant.”

WHY DOES IT MATTER?

So why does building people-oriented streets instead of only car-oriented streets matter? It’s not only because they’re safer or because they enable people to get around affordably without a car. It’s also — and chiefly — because they are more economically productive. They encourage local business activity, produce more tax value per acre and offer a better return on infrastructure investment. Learn more about why walkable streets are more economically productive.”

Read more…

https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/1/19/what-does-a-walkable-street-look-like

 

Read more…

https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/1/16/why-walkable-streets-are-more-economically-productive

IT’S HERE!  THE ASBURY PARK BIKE/PED PLAN

After many months of community input and survey, The Plan For Walking And Biking is complete, and will continue to grow and adapt to continuing needs of residents and visitors. We welcome comments!

Asbury Park Plan For Walking And Biking

 

 

‘GREETINGS FROM ASBURY PARK’ SEMINAR HIGHLIGHTS CITY’S STRATEGIC WEST SIDE REVITALIZATION PLAN

“This is a great opportunity to highlight to professionals and policy makers throughout the state what makes Asbury Park special and the work we are doing to ensure we have healthy communities,” the City’s Director of Planning and Redevelopment Michele Alonso said.”

“The seminar will spotlight the “One City. Asbury Park.” (http://apcompletestreets.org/one-city-one-asbury-park) initiative outlined in the Choice Neighborhoods Plan, which aims to revitalize the city’s largest, but most economically challenged, residential neighborhood into a place of opportunity and economic growth.”

“Alonso said the plan outlines a set of comprehensive directives that address the needs of residents beyond just new housing.”

“This community driven plan aims to revitalize the West Side without displacement and gentrification, and looks forward to a future filled with mixed-income housing, safe streets, economic opportunities, thriving students, and healthy families,” she said.

Read more…

http://asburyparksun.com/asbury-park-featured-at-the-2018-nj-planning-conference/

Asbury Park is perfectly situated to be a people-centric community–it’s built in to our existing design!  At a little over a mile square, and with a developing and reconfigured Main Street, plus schools within walking distance within the city, we are set to be a model of what can be done with a small American city,.  We’ll join the most vibrant cities of Europe and forward-thinking cities in the US.

“Despite the lack of any substantial off-street parking, the sidewalks are alive and well with full storefronts and a steady stream of foot traffic. Unlike most commercial corridors, Millbrook embraces the kind of human-scale development often prohibited by local zoning in spite of nearly ubiquitous demand.”

“With the proliferation of form-based codes and rejection of parking minimums gaining steam, it’s clear there is demand for change. Towns seeking to become economically resilient and differentiate themselves as more than another series of congested strip malls and subdivisions can look to Millbrook as a model.

While Millbrook highlights the importance of mixed-use zoning and engaging with community assets, it also serves as a powerful reminder that great communities come in all sizes. Every town has the ability to counter the tradition of suburban development and embrace a new era of building great communities.”

Read more…

https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/1/22/3-lessons-for-building-a-great-community-from-a-very-small-town

There are a lot of Streetfilms resources for anyone who wants to get better bike lanes in their city!

START WITH A CORE OF DEDICATED VOLUNTEERS/COMMUNITY MEMBERS:  You simply can’t do it without some very motivated people in your city wanting to help manage and motivate your neighbors (and eventually push back against the sure to come NIMBY naysayers) The video below shows how it is done.

Read and see more…

http://www.streetfilms.org/great-strategies-to-get-protected-bike-lanes-in-your-city/

 

So much to unpack in this fascinating and enlightening article.  Worth an in-depth read!

The word “petextrian” is a preemptive attempt by automakers and their allies to invent a menace that’s a worthy successor to the jaywalker of a century ago.

Traffic crashes are the thirteenth most common cause of death in the United States, and the single leading cause of death for people aged eight to twenty-four. As with health care and gun violence, our record on road safety is now among the worst in the developed world, and it’s getting worse

“Everything we know from countries that have successfully reduced road deaths indicates that the most effective approach is to systematically redesign streets to prioritize safety over speed. The growing moral panic over being wired while walking takes none of this into account. Instead, Americans are increasingly being told that the solution is an arbitrary, punitive approach that has little evidence to back it up.

“Distracted pedestrian” laws aren’t really about the evidence, though. They are about maintaining the privileges of car culture as that culture is about to confront an enormous shift in the balance of civic and technological power—one that threatens to permanently upend the relationship between drivers and pedestrians.”

Read more…

https://thebaffler.com/latest/whos-afraid-petextrian-fraade

We know that streets are complete when they are safe for an 8-year-old or an 88-year-old…and the future is our children.  These kids at a nj competition are taking the opportunity to think outside the box and design age-friendly cities.

“By 2060, if not before, the United States is expected to have twice as many people over 65 than today, rising to nearly 24% of the population. Will our cities be livable for them? Maybe so, if their leaders follow some of the ingenious and thoughtful ideas that sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders presented at the Future City regional competition I attended in Piscataway, N.J. on Saturday.

Future City is an annual, project-based learning experience from DiscoverE, a volunteer movement aiming “to inspire the next generation of engineers and innovators.” It starts with a question for middle schoolers: How can we make the world a better place?”

Read more…

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2018/01/16/how-kids-would-make-age-friendly-cities/#3ec78e69183b

 

An interactive infographic from:

THE ASBURY PARK HOUSING AUTHORITY & THE CITY OF ASBURY PARK

AN UNBOUNDED VISION FOR THE WEST SIDE NEIGHBORHOOD

EQUITABLE AND SUSTAINABLE…

Read more…

http://asburyparkchoice.com/

Lawmakers support slowing vehicle speeds and often emphasizes the need to enforce speed limits.  In the interest of Vision Zero, all over the nation cities are implementing strategies like lowering speed limits and improved infrastructure to reduce and eliminate traffic fatalities, but enforcement too often disproportionately targets people of color.  APCSC focuses on equity in transportation and we are aware that education must be a main component for success in safe streets for everyone.

“According to the Oregonian, commissioner Nick Fish said the new 20-mph policy was a good start, but should be paired with police enforcement.

“There’s a big education piece, and there’s a huge enforcement piece,” he said. “Some people are not getting the message right now.”

Increased police enforcement, however, is one of Vision Zero’s more controversial components. As Josh Cohen wrote for Next City in 2016:

Equity-minded safer streets advocates have criticized Vision Zero’s emphasis on traffic enforcement because people of color get stopped by police at disproportionate rates to white people (a problem prevalent in Portland). And, as the high-profile deaths of Philando Castile, Walter Scott, Terence Crutcher and many others illustrate, those traffic stops can escalate in fatal ways. So there is concern that Vision Zero traffic enforcement could have unintended consequences in communities of color.”

Read more…

https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/70-percent-of-portland-city-streets-get-new-speed-limit?utm_source=Next+City+Newsletter&utm_campaign=9a8a3541e4-Daily_790&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fcee5bf7a0-9a8a3541e4-44033881