tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post2957594706668684550..comments2024-02-01T04:37:41.878-05:00Comments on Cap'n Transit Rides Again: Summer Streets: I want more!Cap'n Transithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17057887736728828646noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-74966424128849615032011-08-24T19:18:20.913-04:002011-08-24T19:18:20.913-04:00Just one more thing: a corollary of what I'm i...Just one more thing: a corollary of what I'm implying about street width and activity is that the next target for pedestrianization should be streets that are narrow relative to the amount of activity they have, and are not important bus routes. St. Mark's is a good example, as are many streets in Lower Manhattan and the Village.Alonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17267294744186811858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-44825763798541329612011-08-24T19:15:02.794-04:002011-08-24T19:15:02.794-04:00My experience of Summer Streets is more negative. ...My experience of Summer Streets is more negative. It's like a street fair without the vendors. Because they want to keep it commercial-free, it's simply a road that's been partially pedestrianized. Since Park Avenue is very wide and has little ground-floor retail, probably the least of all the avenues, this doesn't create a bustling pedestrian experience. There was a lot of pedestrian and cyclist traffic through the viaduct over Grand Central, but on the segments further north, it felt more like walking in the roadway in Providence than like walking on a major pedestrian throughfare.<br /><br />In contrast, consider Times Square. Although it's even wider than Park Avenue, it has a lot of activity on the street level: theaters, restaurants, street vendors, large stores. As a result, you never feel lonely or uncrowded there. The space available for pedestrians matches the pedestrian volumes in the area.Alonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17267294744186811858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-22673393735298199672011-08-23T23:50:00.718-04:002011-08-23T23:50:00.718-04:00I like the Brooklyn Bridge idea. I've walked o...I like the Brooklyn Bridge idea. I've walked over several times in the evening this summer, and the walkway gets a little crazy. The pedestrian side gets bogged down with people taking photos, leading to lots of crossover into the (already pretty narrow) bike lane. I'm surprised I haven't seen any collisions.<br /><br />It seems like that walkway could be widened without too much difficulty, but I'm not exactly a civil engineer, and opening a lane to bikes would be a quicker solution. Traffic seems to justify it on at least a part-time basis.Pathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12456796465979923295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-16969191020125112712011-08-23T23:28:46.049-04:002011-08-23T23:28:46.049-04:00Ha. We were saying some of the exact same things a...Ha. We were saying some of the exact same things after the first weekend this year. Open vs. "closed" streets, and all the "offical" vehicles zooming around, far more this year than before.<br /><br />I noticed the same thing at governor's island this summer, suddenly there are all kinds of motorized vehicles plying the "car free" island. What the hell? You can not have a nice space dedicated to actual human New Yorkers for more than a few minutes before *certain people* discover this exciting new way to display their superior status with the exclusive use of an internal combustion engine.nathan_hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12427083977923133797noreply@blogger.com