Pedestrian Plazas

University of Pittsburgh

University of Pittsburgh Settles for Pedestrian Improvements on Adjacent Street

The university wanted to limit a section of Bigelow Boulevard to pedestrians, but the city pushed for a compromise: better crosswalks and traffic calming features. Now the challenge is finding the funds.

November 28, 2017 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Boston, Massachusetts

Development Overtakes Open Space in Boston's Seaport District

Planners worry that the success of the waterfront district has led to its overdevelopment.

July 17, 2017 - The Boston Globe

Bollards

Saving Lives: Including Sidewalk Bollards in Street Design

Countless lives were likely saved by a strategically placed bollard on W. 45th Ave. which stopped a motorist who had driven three blocks on city sidewalks, mowing-down as many pedestrians as possible, from entering the Times Square pedestrian plaza.

May 31, 2017 - The New York Times

NYC-crosswalk

Crowded NYC Sidewalks Force Commuters Into the Street

In the 1970s, the fear of getting mugged had some NYC pedestrians walking in the street. Nowadays, commuters are sharing space with cars for a very different reason: the sidewalks are too crowded.

July 7, 2016 - The New York Times

The Battle for Times Square—Why It Matters, Even Outside New York

The piece begins not in New York but three thousand miles west in Seattle with Janette Sadik-Khan explaining how she triumphed over auto interests by taking back precious road space and returning it to the people in the form of plazas and bike lanes.

August 30, 2015 - CityLab

De Blasio Could Open the Times Square Pedestrian Plaza to Cars

Exotic street performers in the plaza have caused Mayor Bill de Blasio to reconsider his initial opposition to street plazas. Unlike his police commissioner and the governor, de Blasio has yet to make a decision on the removal of Times Square plaza.

August 21, 2015 - The New York Times N.Y. / Region

High-Rise Approval Secures $220 Million for Grand Central Terminal Improvements

In exchange for the approval to build One Vanderbilt, a 63-story office tower adjacent to Grand Central Terminal, the developer will give the MTA $220 million for upgrades to entrances of the Metro-North Railroad and the terminal's subway entrances.

June 2, 2015 - The New York Times - N.Y. / Region

Times Square Historic

From Times Square: How Many Pedestrians Is Too Many Pedestrians?

Times Square stakeholders have begun to raise the specter of "too much of a good thing," as the crowds flocking to Times Square threaten to squeeze the life out of the place.

January 29, 2015 - New York Times

Pedestrians Only

Lessons from Philadelphia's Newest Pedestrian Plaza

Convincing neighborhood stakeholders and local businesses that shutting down a street to cars is a good idea can be a herculean task. After nine years of work to do just that, a group of advocates in Philadelphia has lessons to share.

June 6, 2014 - This Old City

Transit Improvements Boost Business in NYC

In addition to making the city's streets safer, the pedestrian plazas, bike lanes and rapid-transit bus system built in New York City over the past several years have been a boon to surrounding businesses finds a new report released this week.

October 25, 2012 - The New York Times

Breathing Better In NY's Pedestrian Plazas

Manhattan's pedestrian plaza's are associated with increasing vitality, reducing congestion, and now this new study shows, improving air quality be reducing concentrations of nitrogen oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2)

April 16, 2011 - Gothamist

Mix of Successes and Failures for Pedestrian Malls

New York's Broadway goes pedestrian, while Sacramento's K Street goes back to having car traffic. Are pedestrian plazas a relic of the past, or the wave of the future?

May 9, 2010 - Next American City

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