15 October 2007

Contested Streets

Should our streets be safe for all types of vehicles and pedestrians, or should they be car sewers, with their only function to move as many cars as fast as possible? I would really like to see this movie. The trailer itself is a good watch.

3 comments:

Radarman said...

This is worth its very own blog or website.
Cincinnati streets currently belong to the suburbanites, a gift of the city's traffic engineers.
Pedestrians are chumps and bicycles are targets.
Council hasn't a clue.

WestEnder said...

About 10 years ago I visited Denver and Boulder and both cities had converted streets into pedestrian malls. Denver's was an urban rehab of a blighted area. Boulder's was especially impressive because of its size and proximity to the university, which gave it a cool vibe.

I always thought (and still do) that the pedestrian mall idea should be explored for OTR. Streetcars make it even more feasible.

Closing off a street to cars is probably not what you had in mind, but it's a great urban asset if it can be pulled off.

CityKin said...

Watch the trailer if you get a chance. Cars can co-exist with pedestrians and cyclist, but only if the road is designed properly. For example, stop signs instead of traffic lights keep cars from racing to make lights.

Pedestrian only streets have a poor record in recent US history, and only work in very dense popular areas with good public transport.

For OTR/downtown, I could see the pedestrial only area for some alley etc... but not for entire streets.