New York City has several famous examples of pedestrian-only environments, but last weekend's Shared Streets event was an experiment in co-existence.
"DOT’s first-ever “Shared Streets” event limited car traffic entering a 60-block section of the Financial District for five hours on Saturday. With the neighborhood free of the near-constant stream of cars passing through on a typical day, pedestrians and cyclists were free to navigate the streets without fear," writes David Meyer.
In choosing the shared streets model instead of closing the streets down entirely to cars, New York's experiment hopefully offered lessons for people on either side of the driving wheel. For those outside of cars, the event offered new access to the streets of Manhattan. The day also (hopefully) showed drivers that they can still get where they're going at a pace safe for all users. The Meyers article also includes a lot of photos of New Yorkers (and a few tourists, presumably) making use of the streets of Manhattan in new ways.
Tom Kutsch also reported on the Shared Streets day in a separate article, noting especially the list of policy outcomes such events are intended to advance—such as improved pedestrian and bike safety and reduced air pollution and carbon emissions.
The city has yet to announce whether the Shared Streets event has a future in New York. Both articles report low turnout due to sweltering heat on the day of the event.
Read the full story: First-Ever “Shared Streets” Brings Stress-Free Streets to Financial District
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