Recent Posts
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DDOT may restore two-way traffic on 15th Street
NYC DOT has been on a tear recently converting some excessively wide, one-way neighborhood streets like Carlton Ave in Fort Greene and 9th Street in Park Slope into two-way streets with medians and bike lanes that balance the needs of cars, pedestrians, and bicyclists. DC has some of these too, like 15th Street NW, a four-lane (plus parking) high-speed road that’s about… Keep reading…
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Smart transportation policy from Tommy Wells
Councilmember Tommy Wells (Ward 6, which includes Capitol Hill, Penn Quarter, and Southwest Waterfront) has not only been reading his Donald Shoup but his Streetsblog as well. His Web site bears the slogan, “for a livable and walkable community.” And he’s been pushing policies that indeed enhance livable communities. Keep reading…
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Driver vs. pedestrian perspective
This MPD training presentation makes the excellent point that when driving, you see pedestrians and bicycles as being in the way and violating traffic laws, but while walking or biking, drivers are the ones whose transgressions are visible. (Via TheWashCycle.) Keep reading…
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Bad urbanism on the Potomac waterfront
In December, I got into an interesting debate on the Dupont Forum neighborhood list about my feelings concerning the Third Church landmarking. Lance, who considers the building a “masterpiece,” asked if my desire to get rid of most 1970s-era buildings in downtown DC extended to more widely praised structures like the Watergate and Kennedy Center. I replied:The Watergate and… Keep reading…
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DC keeps getting blank walls
Two new developments in Washington, DC continue the disappointing trend of creating buildings that present blank walls to the street. Just as New York did in the 1970s and sometimes still does, and just like much of today’s downtown DC, developers create fortress-like apartment buildings, offices, and even churches that isolate their residents from the neighborhood… Keep reading…
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UFT disappoints on parking
Randi Weingarten, president of NYC’s United Federation of Teachers, acted against the public interest by defending parking placards for teachers, as just another type of benefit and digging in her heels to protect the status quo. Unions are a controversial part of our society and economy. Years of conservative framing have made many citizens deeply suspicious of unions,… Keep reading…
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Picking on planners
I’m reading two books about urban planning, Donald Shoup’s groundbreaking work on parking policy The High Cost of Free Parking, and Cato Institute planning critic Randal O’Toole’s The Best-Laid Plans: How Government Planning Harms Your Quality of Life, Your Pocketbook, and Your Future whose agenda is apparent from its title. Keep reading…
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Byron Brown on cities in politics
Echoing many of the same points I just made in my last post is this AlterNet interview with Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, who argues that the early primaries in non-urban states diminishes the discussion of urban issues: Keep reading…
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What’s wrong with empowering cities?
Discussing the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, Illinois Republican and NPV supporter Kirk Dillard said, “I’ve studied a myth among some Republicans that this empowers cities. The statistics do not bear that out.” Wait, Kirk, what’s wrong with empowering cities? Do all Republicans, or even Illinois Republicans, feel that cities should… Keep reading…
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“All I want for New Year’s is free parking”
When asked what they wished for in the New Year, many neighborhood leaders replied world peace, better public schools, and free parking. Free parking? Yes, Cleveland Park ANC Commissioner Richard Rothblum listed those very items (fortunately, in that order). In the latest Dupont Current (which unfortunately has no online archives except June 2007), a variety of neighborhood… Keep reading…