Recent Streetsblog SF posts about Urban Design

Another Model of Convivial Spaces

By Chris Carlsson | Apr 29, 2009 | 13 Comments

Crowds stretch down Glasgow, Scotland’s Buchanan Street pedestrian-only zone. In Glasgow, Scotland a few weeks ago I had the opportunity to reacquaint myself with a lovely feature of many European cities: broad central city streets converted to pedestrian only. In Glasgow it’s on Sauchiehall Street and makes a grand turn onto Buchanan, covering over 20 […]

Moralism vs. Utopianism–of Red Lights, Helmets, Bike Lanes and…

By Chris Carlsson | Apr 23, 2009 | 40 Comments

Flickr photo: Dear Knucklehead The Oregon Legislature has flushed an effort to bring the Idaho rolling stop law to that state. It’s a bit of a surprise, given both the simple and proven efficacy of allowing cyclists to make rolling stops, as well as Oregon’s big reputation as a bastion of cycling sanity. I’ve been […]

New Video Series Tells the Story of Sprawl

By Brad Aaron | Apr 21, 2009 | No Comments

As livable streets advocates work to make headway in breaking the cycle of American auto dependence, the folks at Planetizen have put together a video narrative that explains how we got here. "The Story of Sprawl," a double DVD set produced by Managing Editor Tim Halbur, is a compilation of historical films dating from 1939 […]

What’s in a Neighborhood

By Matthew Roth | Apr 6, 2009 | 10 Comments

A Sunday Stroll on International Boulevard, Flickr photo by madpai How would you define the boundaries of your neighborhood? Is it the streets that describe it? Is it the people who live in it, a cultural or demographic group that you belong to, or that excludes you? Do you think your neighbors would describe your […]

News From New York: The ABC’s of Trial Plazas and Complete Streets

By Matthew Roth | Apr 2, 2009 | 8 Comments

The trial plaza at Madison Square When we wrote about the trial pedestrian plaza on 17th Street and Market Street that DPW expects to start this May, the story generated numerous doubts about how the city would create a successful public space out of a busy street abutting a gas station. As commenter Josh said, […]

Happy Belated Transportation Freedom Day, San Francisco!

By Matthew Roth | Mar 31, 2009 | No Comments

I’m sorry I’m late. You know how it is, if it’s not in the Facebook calendar, I’m pretty much worthless at remembering. Similar to the premise behind Tax Freedom Day, on March 1st, the San Francisco Bay Area celebrated (did it?) Transportation Freedom Day, the day when an average household has worked enough to […]

Show More Stories