Car-free for more than 15 years, Chicago opened its dying pedestrian mall on State Street to vehicular traffic in 1996, with huge success. Should Boston planners and officials consider a similar strategy for its Downtown Crossing?
"Like Downtown Crossing, which sees an estimated 230,000 people walk through every day, State Street always enjoyed heavy foot traffic. Even during its nadir in the 1980s, more than 20,000 people passed most corners of the nine-block mall every day, making it one of the most traveled areas in the city. But not until the street was reconnected to downtown did the district come back to life, city officials and planners say.
'It was just critical,' said Philip Enquist, an urban designer at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, which designed the removal of the mall. 'I think State Street would not have succeeded had we not brought the cars back. The ripple effects have been phenomenal.'"
"'The lesson is that cities are about activity and energy,' said Elizabeth Hollander, who was Chicago's planning commissioner in the 1980s and is now a senior fellow at Tufts University. 'What they want to do is make themselves different from suburban malls - that's their niche.'
FULL STORY: Chicago's pedestrian mall solution: traffic
A Bold Vision for a Car-Free Boston
As other cities take daring steps to reclaim their streets, a car ban in downtown Boston doesn’t seem so implausible.
Research Documents the Negative Externalities of 20th Century Freeway Planning
According to a newly released working paper, people in 20th century noticed the air and noise pollution and severed neighborhoods caused by freeways, and many of those people chose to move to the suburbs rather than deal with the nuisance.
Alta Bicycle Share Changes its Name
Alta Bicycle Share is now known as Motivate. So let it be written. So let it be done.
Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
In Urban Planning, AI Prompting Could be the New Design Thinking
Creativity has long been key to great urban design. What if we see AI as our new creative partner?
Making Shared Micromobility More Inclusive
Cities and shared mobility system operators can do more to include people with disabilities in planning and operations, per a new report.
Car Designs Make it Harder to See Pedestrians
Blind spots created by thicker pillars built to withstand rollover crashes are creating dangerous conditions for people outside vehicles.
Cal Fire Chatbot Fails to Answer Basic Questions
An AI chatbot designed to provide information about wildfires can’t answer questions about evacuation orders, among other problems.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie