Pedestrianization

In a debate held on Tuesday, and in a subsequent radio interview, leading New York City mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio indicated he'd like to study whether to bring back automobiles to a stretch of Broadway that had been closed for pedestrians.

October 24, 2013 - WNYC: Transportation Nation

New data from New York's Transportation Department shows that although miles of Manhattan street space have been turned over to bikes and pedestrians since 2008, average traffic speeds have actually increased, despite a consistent volume of vehicles.

September 7, 2013 - The New York Times

Inspired by Manhattan's pedestrianization of Times Square, L.A.'s city council recently approved $1.8 million in funding to reduce a major downtown thoroughfare's roadway by half to make room for "a massive increase of the pedestrian infrastructure."

July 5, 2013 - LA.Streetsblog

In an opinion piece, Jeff Speck lays out his case for pedestrianizing Broadway throughout Manhattan. Portions of the street have already been given over to public space, so why not expand the conversion and introduce more green into the city?

April 15, 2013 - New York Daily News

Angelique Chrisafis delivers the fantastic news that, after more than four decades of auto dominance, Paris is returning its riverfront to its people in a "pedestrian 'reconquest' of the banks of the Seine."

August 3, 2012 - The Guardian

Justin Davidson examines the latest "reinvention" of Times Square, sealing the deal on a move toward pedestrianization that began three years ago.

April 25, 2012 - New York Magazine

To launch his new 4-part series on walking in Slate, Tom Vanderbilt describes the "public health nightmare" of a country that has forgotten how to walk.

April 10, 2012 - Slate.com

If you can't fix the players then by all means fix the game. This appears to be the strategy that many European cities, including Zurich, have employed to reduce the use of single-occupancy vehicles.

June 27, 2011 - The New York Times

The oldest city in the Americas bans cars from its colonial streets and outlines a plan to make San Juan more livable. David Soto gives us a look at this ambitious plan.

July 26, 2010 - David Soto

Cairo is revising its downtown area into a "pedestrian friendly plaza." Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif will expand the successful 'daytime pedestrian zones,' and has launched an international design competition to produce a master plan.

June 18, 2010 - ASLA The Dirt

Pedestrianized area's in Manhattan's Herald Square and Times Square will remain permanently closed to auto traffic.

February 11, 2010 - Crain's New York Business

Pedestrians, street vendors, scooters and squatters all compete for space on the gridlocked sidewalks of Mumbai, where nearly 60% of the population travels by foot. Solution? 50 elevated walkways, or "skywalks."

February 2, 2010 - TheCityFix.com

Once upon a time public rights-of-way were simpler; they made sense.  The mobile laws of society were black and white.  Streets were for cars and sidewalks were for, well, walking on the side of the street.  You know, out of the way?  At some point recently though things have started to blur, and it's starting to get just a little bit out of control.  It's hard to put one's finger on it, but lately there's been this funny notion that the street itself, long the gift to man-and-machine, is supposed to be shared with people who just can't seem to keep themselves on their side of the curb.  Woe is me, in some instances there isn't even a curb anymore!  What's worse, it seems apparent that our public officials, the very people we elect to represent us an

April 13, 2009 - Ian Sacs

Six architects, planners, public intellectuals and authors give their differing opinions on Bloomberg's plan to turn Broadway into a pedestrian-only space.

March 2, 2009 - Freakonomics - NY Times Blog