The growth in hybrid car sales is a welcome sign that a major change in the automobile industry is afoot. The shift to transport infrastructure that is not based on the archaic complexity of an internal combustion engine, with its hundreds of moving parts and compressed fuel explosions, has been long put off by an automobile industry, happy with status quo, partnered with oil cartels with the power to price their product as if it were in endless supply. But with smack-in-the-face-reality fuel prices last summer, the collapse of the so-called “Big Three” over the winter, and the simultaneous heralding assertion of alternative energy technologies (Daimler AG bought a 10% stake in Tesla Motors last month!), the fallout of western economic near-collapse has changed everything we’ve known to be sacrosanct; Leonard Lopate even waxed nostalgic about the “Death of the Car Song” yesterday on National Public Radio’s local station, WNYC.
New York City
The Challenge of Finding People Before Counting Them
Collecting Census data can be a daunting task. But in some places, like New York City, just finding the people to survey can be most of the challenge.
NPR
New York City Has Added 200 Miles of Bike Lanes
New York City had a 35 percent increase in commuter cycling last year. Much of the increase was attributed to New York City’s Department of Transportation's experimenting with innovative bicycle facilities based on European models.
rabble.ca
Bike Lanes As Training Wheels
Wed, 05/27/2009 - 09:15
A friend introduced me yesterday to rambunctious bicycling advocate Fred Oswald via a recent article out of Cleveland’s press. Much debate swirls around his not-so-uncommon opinions. Mr. Oswald’s argument can be boiled down to two points: supporting a critical need for much more bicycling education on sharing public roadways with other vehicles, and fighting an industry-borne fallacy that breaking up streets with allocated spaces, such as bike lanes, is good for the biking community. The former is, of course, not contestable. We all agree that safety and training are absolutely critical to developing a strong and healthy bicycling community.
The Benevolent Robert Moses of New York's Streets
As New York City prepares to pedestrianize Times Square, New York Magazine profiles Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, who they call "equal parts Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses."
New York Magazine
Single Operator Suggested for Coney Island, But Character Loss is Feared
Theme park experts suggest contracting a single operator to manage Coney Island, but there's some push back from city officials who fear a loss of diversity and character.
Brooklyn Paper
Working Families Charged Rent to Live in New York Shelters
Families who have income will now be charged a small rent to stay in public housing shelters in New York City, part of a 1997 state law that had up until now gone unenforced.
The New York Times
Ground Zero Plans Taking Shape, But Still Troubled
The long-delayed and troubled design for Manhattan's Ground Zero site has undergone some improvements and been revealed in a new model. But as New York Times architecture critic Nicolai Oroussoff notes, the design is still lacking.
The New York Times
New Plaza Conversion Projects Chosen For New York City
Nine new sites have been selected by New York City's Department of Transportation for conversion into public plazas.
Streetsblog
The Contested Future of Coney Island
Redeveloping Coney Island could be the biggest rezoning effort in New York City history. The controversial plan has many in the city up in arms.
New York Daily News
Plans for Retrofitting, Audits Announced for NYC
In a step toward accomplishing PlaNYC's goal of reducing the city's carbon emissions by 30% in the next twenty years, Mayor Bloomberg has announced that larger buildings will be retrofitted to be more energy efficient.
The Architect's Newspaper
The Planetizen News Brief - 4/23/09
4:25 minutes (4.05 MB)
Condos converting to affordable housing in New York, bankrupt developments converting to parks in Florida, and solar power heads to the Vatican, all on this week's Planetizen News Brief, airing weekly on the nationally-syndicated radio show "Smart City". Read, listen or download.
The Best Laid Plans of New York City's Building Boom
This slideshow from New York looks at a handful of residential and office buildings in New York City that have either stalled or completely halted development.
New York
New York's Unprecedented Park
Preconceptions and lofty goals surround New York's soon-to-open High Line park. But the unprecedented inner city rail line conversion leaves much up in the air, according to this piece from The Architect's Newspaper.
The Architect's Newspaper
The Birth of the Map of the Cool
Certain parts of the city generate "buzz" -- through events, parties, or other attractions. Just how much buzz they create is hard to nail down. But a new study focusing on L.A. and New York seeks to quantify the cool factor that makes places pop.
The New York Times
Bronx Boomer
Big-name and big-budget projects in New York are basking in the spotlight, but smaller, community-based projects are also flourishing in the Bronx.
The Architect's Newspaper
Urban Bicycle Theft, a Fact of Life
In this City Room post, J. David Goodman blogs about his observations on bicycle theft in New York City--arguably the bike theft capital of the world.
The New York Times
One City, Two New Stadia
Paul Goldberger looks at the two new baseball stadia opening in New York this Spring.
The New Yorker
New York City: Light it Right
What light is right? How much is too much? These questions don't typically get asked in cities, as they simply rely on what they've always done. But now the Municipal Art Society in New York is bringing these issues to the table.
The New Yorker
San Francisco Plans Pedestrian Street
San Francisco is looking to follow New York City's lead as it moves forward with plans to convert a portion of street into a pedestrian plaza.
Streetsblog SF
