Pedestrian Sprawl Alert: Hoboken's New "Plaza"

As if all this inclement weather hasn't been hassle enough for those of us who cherish our cars, I practically careened into another tragic loss for the rightfully auto-minded recently in Hoboken, New Jersey.  It seems the needs of lofty pedestrians et.al. have once again been imprudently prioritized over us drivers in a result that is sure to make your muffler ratlle: a one-block segment of an historic belgian block street has been closed off to the ideal form of personal mobility (read: car) so that silly people with nothing better to do than run around frivolously in streets have another place off the sidewalk to inconvenience the driving majority of our great nation.

3 minute read

January 5, 2010, 9:26 PM PST

By Ian Sacs


As if all this inclement weather hasn't been hassle enough for those of us who cherish our cars, I practically careened into another tragic loss for the rightfully auto-minded recently in Hoboken, New Jersey.  It seems the needs of lofty pedestrians et.al. have once again been imprudently prioritized over us drivers in a result that is sure to make your muffler ratlle: a one-block segment of an historic belgian block street has been closed off to the ideal form of personal mobility (read: car) so that silly people with nothing better to do than run around frivolously in streets have another place off the sidewalk to inconvenience the driving majority of our great nation. To make the change seem authentic, they're calling this space a "pedestrian plaza"; blah, blah, blah, what about our freedoms?  Isn't it enough that they strut through crosswalks at every intersection?  Why can't we leave streets as they are; if people want to walk in them, go ahead (if you're feeling lucky, wink wink)?

It wouldn't have been so bad if the closed street didn't totally run me out of my way for three entire minutes while I made random turns and gave my GPS unit a workout, which, by the way, passive-aggressively releases frustration by cheerily telling me in a digitally rendered Australian accent it's "recalculating route".  Well Crikey!  Should we drivers really have to put up with this kind of nonsense - closed streets, lost freedoms, lectures from disgruntled electronic devices - all for the sake of some minimalist ninnies who outright refuse to just get in a car to go somewhere?

This example of driver's-rights-rampantly-disintegrated is so bad, that one local blog with enough sense to recognize good streets gone bad even commented that there were too many bike racks provided.  Thank you!  Finally, a voice of reason in the morass of footed anarchy!  If you can get a blogger to proclaim, with photographic documentation, that a cinema has too much bicycle parking, you know something must be amiss.  This isn't about quality of life or "safe streets"; no, this is an assault on all that has been good in our the world for over a century by people who are jealous that we can love our cars so much and they can't understand.

 

Too many bike racks, you can't make this stuff up!  (Photo Courtesy of HobokenFour11)

The last time I posted about unchecked, incessant pedestrian sprawl it didn't hit so close to home; if New York City wants to throw a bone to their perpetually barking pedestrians, let them, and the best of Europe can be readily experienced at Epcot Center anyway so who cares what they do over there.  But for goodness sake, this is in New Jersey!  Autophiles the world over look to New Jersey as the shining levee holding back the tides of carless urban insanity.  Highways, exit ramps, and shopping malls converge here to serve as the pinnacle example of Le Corbusier's dream.  World-controlling Manhattanites who refuse to leave New York City other than by air and possess the ability to prattle mindlessly about complex financial instruments turn pale when confronted with the prospect of navigating New Jersey in car via highway signage.  We're the home of the jughandle, the strip mall, the Jersey barrier!  Sure, sexy Los Angeles gets all the attention for catering to the car, but New Jersey is where the revolution began, people!  It's like, you do know, "All roads lead to New Jersey", don't you?  If pedestrian sprawl takes hold here, the car is done for.  Next thing they'll be handing out Segways and telling us we can write off sneakers on our taxes!  If we don't rise up against the onslaught, where, pray-tell, will it end?


Ian Sacs

Ian Sacs has been playing in traffic for over ten years. He solves challenging urban transportation and parking problems by making the best possible use of precious public spaces and designing custom-fit programs to distribute modal demand.

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

April 23, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Close-up of "Apartment for rent" sign in red text on black background in front of blurred building

Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program

Federal officials are eyeing major cuts to the Section 8 program that helps millions of low-income households pay rent.

April 21, 2025 - Housing Wire

Black and white photos of camp made up of small 'earthquake shacks' in Dolores Park in 1906 after the San Francisco earthquake.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees

More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

April 15, 2025 - Charles F. Bloszies

Missouri state capitol dome in Jefferson City, MO.

Missouri Law Would Ban Protections for Housing Voucher Users

A state law seeks to overturn source-of-income discrimination bans passed by several Missouri cities.

28 minutes ago - Missouri Independent

Los Angeles, California

Op-Ed: Looking for Efficiency? Fund Intercity Buses

Much less expensive than rail, intercity buses serve millions of Americans every year, but public subsidies are lacking.

1 hour ago - Smart Cities Dive

A bus stop in Philadelphia, where people wait under a glass shelter for a bus as it arrives.

Philadelphia Councilmember Proposes Transit Access Fund

The plan would allocate 0.5 percent of the general fund toward mobility subsidies for low-income households.

2 hours ago - Streetsblog USA

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.

Write for Planetizen