Open Streets
Denver Plans to Make Some Open Streets Permanent
The city is moving to institutionalize segments of streets that were successfully pedestrianized during the pandemic.
Future of Minneapolis Open Streets in Question
The city denied a request for funding and ended its contract with the organizing nonprofit, placing future events in jeopardy.
Op-Ed: How to Make Over Pennsylvania Avenue
The Washington, D.C. street briefly regained its former vibrancy during the pandemic. A proposed redesign could bring it back once again.
Car-Free Montreal Street Hailed as Success
A summer pedestrianization project is widely popular with residents and local businesses.
A Car-Free Summer on Toronto’s Market Street
The I Heart Market Street program will allow pedestrians a car-free space adjacent to Toronto’s St. Lawrence Market.
Downtown Indy to Gain New Car-Free Spaces
A summer program will turn Monument Circle into a public park and event space, and plans are in development to make a segment of Georgia Street safer and more walkable.
NYC Announces $30M for Open Streets Projects
The funding is designed to support open streets and public space projects in underresourced neighborhoods.
Part of Houston’s Main Street to Be Permanently Pedestrianized
A seven-block stretch downtown will remain closed to cars after the success of a pandemic-era outdoor dining program.
Reclaiming Our Space: The Battle for Open Streets
The growth of pedestrianized spaces and car-free streets depends on a transformational shift in thinking about what—and who—public spaces and streets are for.
New York Hires ‘Public Space Czar’
The public space officer will be in charge of making the city’s sidewalks more pedestrian-friendly while keeping streets clean and accessible.
Bike Lanes Are Good for Business. Why Don’t Business Owners Believe It?
Proposed bike lanes often come up against opposition from local merchants who believe losing street parking will hurt their business, but research repeatedly shows the opposite effect.
Where Pandemic Bike Improvements Won Out
While some cities are reverting back to pre-pandemic street configurations, others are taking advantage of the momentum for bike and pedestrian infrastructure to make pandemic-era projects permanent.
New Philadelphia Outdoor Dining Laws Exclude Most Restaurants
Restaurant owners argue that new requirements for the city’s permanent outdoor dining program are practically impossible for most of them to meet.
Where Open Streets Are Succeeding
The cities that are making their pandemic-era car-free experiments permanent.
Predictions for San Francisco’s Public Spaces
In 2023, will the city’s public spaces be reclaimed by cars, or will pandemic-era interventions lead to permanent change?
Planning Year in Review 2022: Downtowns, Transportation, Climate Change
Part two of a review of the major themes, debates, and events of the year in planning that was 2022.
Where Car-Free Streets Won Out
While some open streets experiments have met with backlash from community members, others were so successful they led to permanent changes.
Open Streets and Outdoor Dining Are Best for Business, Report Says
Most business owners believe that they'd be out of business without on-street parking near their front door. The experience of New York City during the pandemic proves otherwise.
Who Should Manage New York’s Outdoor Dining Program?
A proposal to shift responsibility away from the Department of Transportation has met staunch resistance from industry groups and advocates of the program.
Opinion: Make Halloween Car-Free
Forget razor blades in apples. Henry Grabar argues the biggest threat on Halloween is much more mundane.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
Greater Baltimore Committee
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
