StreetFilms
Streetsblog LA
Streetfilms: Making Public Space from Pavement in SF
The entire family of San Francisco city agencies responsible for
maintaining its streets made an unconventional decision to close a
portion of a street to cars and convert the new space into a simple,
yet elegant, public plaza. The project combines all the important
elements of plaza creation that have been successful in New York City
and elsewhere: take space from cars, use simple treatments to convert
the space into a pedestrian sanctuary, including movable furniture and
leftover granite blocks from city salvage yards, and engage commercial
interests around the plaza to help maintain and care for the new public
realm.
June 29, 2009
A Bright Beginning for Light Rail in Phoenix
Everyone knows that Phoenix has a huge sprawl problem. But now transit-oriented development is on the upswing in this Sun Belt metropolis. In
December, the Phoenix region opened one of the most ambitious transit projects
in recent U.S. history: a 20-mile light rail line with 28 stops
serving three cities (Phoenix, Tempe, and Mesa). Future plans include an extension within three years, with several new corridors being studied.
June 19, 2009
The Search for the Zozo
The most recent offering from Streetfilms shows many of the people I knew and know from New York's Livable Streets Movement traveling the city in search of legendary Zozo, a creature that somewhat resembles a cross between Barney and Puff the Magic Dragon. The Zozo apparently hates cars and abandoned New York in the mid-20th Century and only now, after years of the NYCDOT reclaiming open space, has the purple, fuzzy, kind-hearted beast re-appeared.
May 1, 2009
It’s True Big Brother is Watching You…
...and it turns out he's a jovial traffic engineer named Bill Shao.
April 20, 2009
LADOT, USC Plan Changes for Crosswalk at Jefferson and Hoover
Following the outcry after two USC students were run down in the Crosswalk at Hoover and Jefferson, the parents of one of the students, the one who was slain, demanded that the city "fix" this intersection. Some Streetsblog readers noted that this intersection already has one of the safest designs, a Scramble-crosswalk. Given that pedestrians are being mowed down throughout the city, is the LADOT really going to focus on this one intersection?
April 16, 2009
People Friendly Design in London
Streetfilms voyaged across the pond to visit some of London’s
innovative transportation and public realm projects. We interviewed
Paul Harper, a head urban designer at Design for London, who was in charge of the 100 Public Spaces Programme.
April 14, 2009