Sick of Speeding, Baltimoreans Deploy DIY Traffic Calming

Fed up with speeding cars, and a city bureaucracy seen as slow to respond to their complaints, residents and artists in Baltimore have taken it upon themselves to remedy the situation by creating their own traffic calming measures.

1 minute read

December 30, 2013, 5:00 AM PST

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


As Baltimore officials pull the plug on a troubled speed and red-light camera system, the city's residents have discovered cheaper, but illicit, means of calming traffic. A small potted tree, a steel sculpture, and a “snowmom” and two snow children wearing orange vests are among the tactical interventions that have appeared along the city's dangerous streets to attract attention and slow drivers.

"Painting the street, playing ball in the street, decorating the yard, murals, sculptures—basically anything that creates visual interest and surprise—also slows down vehicular traffic," writes David Engwicht, urban designer and author of Street Reclaiming, a guide to addressing neighborhood traffic problems.

"Engwicht advises his readers to make obstacles temporary and not to ask permission," notes Edward Ericson Jr. "Several Baltimoreans have followed Engwicht’s prescriptions, though none had heard of the author." 

“You go through the dumb bureaucratic ladder with the city, it’s gonna take 10 years and they’re gonna put something stupid,” says Matt Fouse, a Charles Village artist who created one of the illicit interventions. “It’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission. That’s the motto of my life.”

Sunday, December 29, 2013 in Baltimore City Paper

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

Use Code 25for25 at checkout for 25% off an annual plan!

Redlining map of Oakland and Berkeley.

Rethinking Redlining

For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

May 15, 2025 - Alan Mallach

Interior of Place Versailles mall in Montreal, Canada.

Montreal Mall to Become 6,000 Housing Units

Place Versailles will be transformed into a mixed-use complex over the next 25 years.

May 22, 2025 - CBC

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.

May 21, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Flat modern glass office tower with "County of Santa Clara" sign.

Santa Clara County Dedicates Over $28M to Affordable Housing

The county is funding over 600 new affordable housing units via revenue from a 2016 bond measure.

May 23 - San Francisco Chronicle

Aerial view of dense urban center with lines indicating smart city concept.

Why a Failed ‘Smart City’ Is Still Relevant

A Google-backed proposal to turn an underused section of Toronto waterfront into a tech hub holds relevant lessons about privacy and data.

May 23 - Governing

Pale yellow Sears kit house with red tile roof in Sylva, North Carolina.

When Sears Pioneered Modular Housing

Kit homes sold in catalogs like Sears and Montgomery Ward made homeownership affordable for midcentury Americans.

May 23 - The Daily Yonder