The Congress for the New Urbanism has just published a list of the top ten aging elevated highways that are ripe for removal and redesign.  The removal of these highways could lead to revitalization movements in the cities and regions they currently occupy.

A large percentage of these highways are located in the northeast.

CNU, like PPS, advocates for replacing elevated highways with surface streets that connect destinations and promote walkability.

The top ten opportinities listed are:

1. Alaskan Way Viaduct, Seattle, WA
2. Sheridan Expressway, Bronx, NY
3. The Skyway and Route 5, Buffalo, NY
4. Route 34, New Haven, CT
5. Claiborne Expressway, New Orleans, LA
6. Interstate 81, Syracuse, NY
7. Interstate 64, Louisville, KY
8. Route 29, Trenton, NJ
9. Gardiner Expressway, Toronto, ON
10. 11th Street Bridges and the Southeast Freeway, Washington D.C.

More Information:

• Buffalo Waterfront [PPS]
• Freeways Without Futures [Congress for the New Urbanism]
  

PPS Founder and President Fred Kent spoke to a group of Upper East Siders Tuesday evening, engaging the uptown community to evaluate their own neighborhood.  After a presentation on bold moves in pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly policies around the world, attendees split up into groups to brainstorm simple ways to improve the streets in their neighborhood.  Ideas including traffic circles, closing main streets to traffic and enhancing the area's waterfront amenities were among those generated.

Streetsblog offers a full report.

Following the lead of innovative cities such as Bogota, El Paso, Ottowa, Guadalajara and Paris, New York City is shifting its focus from cars to people on its streets.  Through its Summer Streets program, the city will close down a 6.9-mile stretch of road to cars on three consecutive Saturdays between the Brooklyn Bridge and East 72nd Street, creating an opportunity for safe cycling, walking and exploring.

The program is modeled off of Ciclovia, a similar initiative in Bogota, Colombia, that provides 70 miles worth of car-free streets each weekend to pedestrians and cyclists.  Now in its 32nd year, Ciclovia is considered to be an enormous success.

The road closure isn't favored by all.  Taxi drivers and business owners alike are concerned about the financial impact of their livelihoods.

The Summer Streets route will include stretches of Centre Street, Lafayette, Fourth Avenue and Park Avenue and will take place on August 9, 16 and 23 from 7am until 1pm.

Further Reading:

• Car-Free Streets, a Colombian Import, Inspire Debate [NY Times]
• City to Experiment with Car-Free Streets [CityRoom] 

Photo Courtesy of China Daily (April, 2006)

East-1 Zhongshan Road in Shanghai's landmark Bund area is about to get a serious road diet. Decades ago, it was a tree-lined boulevard that served as a gateway to the region's financial and global trade core. Today, it looks more like a moat full of vehicle traffic that separates the waterfront from the majestic buildings facing the harbor and the vibrant city life further inland.

Ten lanes of traffic will be reduced down to four to create more pedestrian space, parks, shops and better linkages to surrounding areas, such as the Nanking Road shopping corridor - one of the busiest in the world. Most of the traffic will be redirected underground to a new tunnel, which will let through traffic vehicles bypass East-1 Zhongshan Road.

Currently, views of the Huangpu harbor from East-1 Zhongshan Road are blocked by raised levees and an elevated promenade. Visitors mostly come to the promenade to see the new skyline shaping up in the Pudong district across the Huangpu River.

The hope is to bring people to the area for many more activities than currently exist. The proposed design promises to improve the physical and visual connection to the water. 

Related Articles:
A New Look for the Bund [Shanghaiist]
Shanghai Waterfront Redesigned [Architecture Magazine] 

Despite the large number of Americans now living in cities, urban issues have been astonishingly absent from the U.S. presidential debates. PPS did a spoof article for Faking Places, the annual April Fool's Newsletter, in which Hillary, McCain and Obama make promises for more livable neighborhoods. The glaring omission of urban issues from the national discourse is actually no laughing matter.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports:

"There are three times as many urbanites in America as country folk, yet you wouldn't know it listening to the three main presidential candidates, or perusing their Web sites. Instead, you might come away thinking the United States is a collection of Norman Rockwell small towns surrounded by picture-book farms."

Related Stories: 
The Candidates and the City [Gotham Gazette]
Urban Issues Get Short Shrift [Politico]
Candidates Largely Ignore Urban Issues [City Mayors]

Planetizen has named PPS/Jay Walljasper's The Great Neighborhood Book as one of its top 10 planing books of 2007.  http://www.planetizen.com/books/2008

Also, Urban Land magazine recently reviewed The Great Neighborhood Book in the November/December 2007 issue. Click here to read the review.

The Great Neighborhood Book also received an honorable mention on the American Booksellers Association's list of books about promoting local businesses.

The Rockefeller Foundation is now accepting nominations for the 2008 Jane Jacobs Medal on its website through February 1, 2008. The 2008 Rockefeller Foundation Jane Jacobs Medals will recognize two living individuals whose creative vision for the urban environment has significantly contributed to the vibrancy and variety of New York City.

Click here for the full  press release

Click here for the The 2008 Jane Jacobs Medal Nomination Form

Metro Atlanta's traffic congestion is endangering its future growth, according to one of the nation's top site selection experts, who advises companies on where to send their jobs.

Atlanta's traffic problem has put it "at the point of no return," said Dennis J. Donovan. Lots of places have transportation funding problems, but Atlanta's congestion is the second worst in the nation, Donovan noted, and "the planning and funding to make sure this wouldn't happen hasn't been done."

Up against indifference from goverment officials and oppression from overpowering vehicles, young Athenians stand up to take back the sidewalks for pedestrians. Due to poor planning, limited space, and an increase in drivership, Athenian drivers have become accustomed to illegally parking on sidewalks and other walkways despite blockades, barriers, or restrictions. Due to the lack of other simple solutions, the government has looked the other way.

One activist group the Street Panthers, finally fed up with this infringement, has begun sticking signs on illegally parked cars. An action, within the bounds of the law, that pushes back on illegal parkers, and informs and reminds the public and the government that pedestrians need safe and convenient spaces to walk amonst the city.

The United States Conference of Mayors held a two-day Climate Protection Summit on November 1 in Seattle . Mayors from around the country pledged to make their cities greener and more sustainable.

This effort will begin with scaling cities down to a more human level. "Cities that are centered on people and public transit, not cars," are more walkable and livable, and thereby more sustainable and energy efficient.

The 2007 Growth and Transportation Survey shows that Three-fourths of Americans surveyed believe that developing communities that reduce the need to drive and improving public transportation are both better long-term solutions for reducing traffic congestion than building new roads.

The Spitzer administration has released plans for a rebuilt Penn Station, complete with natural light pouring in and a "grand public space" in a new, rezoned business district on Manhattan's far West Side.

The new plans would also create 7.5 million square feet of mixed use development, including a commercial district that would link to a plan to redevelop the Hudson railyards closer to the river.

Lawmakers in Illinois are recognizing what is becoming common sense across the country -- that our roads need to serve everyone using them, whether they are driving, walking, bicycling, or catching the bus.  There was a unanimous vote under which the Illinois Department of Transportation must include safe bicycling and walking routes in all planning for urbanized areas immediately and in construction by August 2008.

The Open Planning Project founder Mark Gorton in NY talks with "Gridlock Sam" Schwartz about about history of DOT in NYC, car-free Cental Park, and general transportation policy. It gives a great history of the evolution of transportation thinking and policy in NY over the last 40 years.

Running time: approx. 10 mins.

On PBS' "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" this week, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters said that instead of raising taxes on gasoline to renew the nation's sagging infrastructure, Congress should examine its spending priorities -- including investments in bike paths and trails, which, Peters said, "are not transportation."

PBS has the full transcript, along with video of the interview. 

With support from the Federal Highway Administration, New York City will be the first locality in the United States to test painted bus lanes, the cityï¾’s Department of Transportation announced today.

As part of a trial period, existing bus lanes on East 57th Street, from Second to Fifth Avenues, and on Fordham Road, from University Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, are being painted terra cotta, a deep red like the color of bricks. If the experiment works, officials hope that more motorists will stay out of the lanes, which are used during the morning and evening rush, on weekdays.

Policymakers are ignoring the wishes of local people and exaggerating the importance of “metropolitan” urban design in creating successful public spaces, according to a new report, the Social Value of Public Spaces.  

“Most public spaces that people use are local spaces they visit regularly, often quite banal in design, or untidy in their activities or functions, such as street markets and car boot sales,” the report said.