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Unfriendly Streets
From the StreetFilms Video Gallery
Pedestrian Obstacle Course A visual example of the hoops through which a pedestrian must jump to cross a street in Times Square.
Dirty Little Secret An inequitable use of parking by government agencies is a dirty little secret in Chinatown.
Broadway & Houston One of the busiest pedestrian crossings in the city is to become even more car friendly -- at the expense of pedestrian safety.
Mark points out how parked cars and street use makes a difference in how two streets just blocks apart in SoHo are felt by pedestrians.
New York City has an enormous traffic problem. Streets are overrun with cars, pedestrians are jammed onto sidewalks, cyclists are forced into dangerous traffic, buses fall behind schedule, and deliveries, taxis, and emergency vehicles struggle to get through.
New York's outdated traffic planning policy primarily attempts to maximize vehicular throughput. This fails to consider how pedestrians, cyclists, and transit-users can improve the total capacity of our streets.
Streets are more than just car corridors; they are valuable civic spaces and resources that need to be wisely allocated. Improving these public spaces is the simplest way to improve the quality of life for all New Yorkers.
Undemocratic Use of Space
Cars are the most inefficient users of New York City street space. A sensible, sustainable transportation policy would prioritize transit users, cyclists and walkers.
Only two in five New Yorkers own a car—one in five Manhattanites owns a car. Yet New York City streets are almost entirely devoted to cars.
Traffic Harms Neighborhoods
Donald Appleyard, UC Berkeley Professor of Urban Design, quantified the impact of traffic on social ties. He found that people who live on low traffic streets:
- had more friends
- knew more neighbors
- felt greater pride and stewardship
How Do New Yorkers Deal With Traffic?
In the summer of 2005, Appleyard's research was replicated in four New York City neighborhoods. The results confirmed the detrimental effect of traffic on relations between neighbors.
How Do New Yorkers Deal With Traffic?
