The newly opened Bell Street Park in Seattle offers the kind of "social friction" Leigh Gallagher called for in Friday's NYT with "planters, perches ... and the simplest but most innovative feature of all, a level plane between sidewalk and street."

Josh Feit provides an update on Bell Street Park, the $5 million pedestrian-friendly project along Bell Street between 1st and 5th avenues.
"...now, stretching up to 5th, the corridor of planters, perches, mixed car-and-ped zones, zebra crosswalks, a dog park, and the simplest but most innovative feature of all, a level plane between sidewalk and street (no curbs), it's easy to see what a vibrant stretch of downtown this is going to be. (By the way, the perches are made out of the re-purposed, former curbs.)"
Relating the park to a recent New York Times op-ed that advocates for a "social friction" design for city streets, Feit writes: "And here's the argument city leaders should be making for more Bell Street Parks, as they're bound to face opposition from people who don't like the move away from car-centric design to one that accommodates urban density: This isn't a rush into some development dystopia, it's a return to the lazy Seattle of the 1970s, when life moved a bit slower."
"That, in fact, is the whole point of building a street grid that accommodates foot traffic: Creating spaces to linger on the corner (picture food trucks in the extended pedestrian zones, one of the designers at SvR Design told me) and forcing cars to pay attention by creating more entry points for foot traffic, establishes an Andy Griffith Mayberry setting, not an Uma Thurman Gattaca nightmare."
FULL STORY: Pedestrian Chronicles: Building Bell Street Park

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.

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

Ken Jennings Launches Transit Web Series
The Jeopardy champ wants you to ride public transit.

Texas Bills Could Push More People Into Homelessness
A proposal to speed up the eviction process and a bill that would accelerate enforcement of an existing camping ban could make the state’s homelessness crisis worse, advocates say.

USGS Water Science Centers Targeted for Closure
If their work is suspended, states could lose a valuable resource for monitoring, understanding, and managing water resources.

Driving Equity and Clean Air: California Invests in Greener School Transportation
California has awarded $500 million to fund 1,000 zero-emission school buses and chargers for educational agencies as part of its effort to reduce pollution, improve student health, and accelerate the transition to clean transportation.
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.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Ada County Highway District
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service