Newbury Street Closed To Car Traffic One Day Next Month

In an effort to make it more like downtown crossing Newbury Street will be closed to cars one day next month (Aug 7th).

The city’s decision to shut down Newbury Street to vehicular traffic on Sunday, Aug. 7, is drawing mixed reactions from the Back Bay’s business community, with some representatives steadfast against the idea and others enthusiastically embracing this first-time initiative.

From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., “Open Newbury Street” will transform the full width of the street from Berkeley Street to Massachusetts Avenue into a pedestrian-only walkway. Parking will be restricted beginning at 8 a.m., with signs posted to inform drivers of the change, according to a press release.

Michele Messino, executive director of the Newbury Street League, said a recent survey showed that 82 percent of its membership is opposed to the idea, however.

I love it, but not everyone is so into it.  Perhaps they should read some of the research that shows that pedestrian and bicycle customers buy a lot more stuff, and that parking is actually costing us all a lot of money.

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Paris To Exclude Cars For One Day

For a single day next month, locals and visitors will be able to experience Paris without motorized traffic, giving the city over to pedestrians and bikers. Free of traffic congestion, noise pollution and vehicle emissions, the Day Without Cars will transform the physical and auditory landscape, enabling views and revealing ambient sounds ordinarily drowned out by the urban cacophony on September 27th.

Timed to coincide with a United Nations climate conference and European Mobility Week, the move is partially a display of possibilities for car-free cities as well as a statement about the environment. The 1st through 7th, 10th and 11th arrondissements (city sections) will all participate; monuments and gathering spaces such as the Champs Élysées, the Bastille, and the Eiffel Tower are included as well. (via)

Oh how I wish we could do this, even for one day, even once a year, pretty please with cycling on top can we exclude all cars from the city for one day?!?!?

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The Demise Of The City Car

Here is an awesome slide show about why the future of cars in our cities is a short one. This is a slide presentation from the URBAN RESEARCH & DESIGNSPACESCAPE Alexander Ståhle PhD & CEO Spacescape [email protected] www.spacescape.se Its got a lot of amazing stuff in here, take your time and check out all the slides. Notes for the slides below.

The use of cars in the city is a failed experiment, one that should hopefully come to an end soon.

1. THE END OF THE CAR CITY ”A convenient truth” Alexander Ståhle, PHD & CEO ǀ URBAN RESEARCH & DESIGNSPACESCAPE
2. Why cities?
3. Proximity creates livability
4. Proximity creates innovation
5. Proximity creates social wellfare
6. Vad gör en attraktiv plats? Fungerar planen som det var tänkt? Vad skapar närhet och flöden? SOFO Proximity creates value
7. Housing value is 90% walkability in Stockholm Appartment prices in Stockholm regionUrban qualities
8. “Walkability command a premium of $4-34,000” CEO for Cities (2009) ”Walkable urban””Drivable suburban”
9. SHOPS DENSITYDENSITY SHOPS STOCKHOLM MALMÖÖREBRO RESTAURANTS DENSITY “Cities are proximity, density, closeness” Edward Glaeser
10. Density decreases car use Density Travel Dunphy RT and Fisher K (1996)
11. Average commute in Hong Kong is 11 min
12. “Individuals living near transit had a significantly higher level of trust and reciprocity and connections with neighbors.” Patterns of social capital associated with transit oriented development, Journal of Transport Geography, 2014
13. “Denser areas have greater economic mobility.“ (Measuring sprawl, SGA, 2014)
14. “The compact walkable city enhance livelihoods for the poor through affordable mobility. It lower social segregation through proximity of affordable housing to places of work”. Joan Clos, UN Habitat
15. “An advanced city is not where the poor drive cars, but where the rich take public transport” Enrique Penalosa
16. Car accessiblity do not affect appartment prices or office rents in Stockholm Public transport accessibility Officerent
17. Failing office areas without transit and walkability Infra City, Upplands Väsby
18. Inside Infra City, Upplands Väsby Inside failing office areas…
19. “People in denser areas are more physically active.” (Neighborhood environment and physical activity, Eriksson, 2013)
20. “People in denser areas have longer life expectancies.” (Measuring sprawl, SGA, 2014)
21. 5% drive to shop downtown in New York and in Stockholm (PPS 2010, Spacescape 2012)
22. “Pedestrians spend 65% more than drivers” Transport for London (2014)
23. “1/3 of America’s malls are dead or dying” deadmalls.com
24. Wallmart and IKEA goes urban
25. Gallerian shopping mall, Stockholm
26. Photoshop Gallerian shopping mall, Stockholm
27. Why not car cities?
28. People in cars can…
29. People in cars can´t interact
30. ”When in my car I get a different set of values” Louis CK
31. New study on “road rage” (Gatersleben, Murtagh, White 2013): •Car use has negative effects on urban communities by affecting social perceptions. •More car use through a relatively poor area is associated with less positive views of that area. •More walking through a relatively poor area is related to more positive views of the area. •Attitudes towards young people are more negative when they are seen from a car. •Attitudes towards young people are most positive when seen from a pedestrian perspective. ”Attitudes to people more negative when seen from a car”
32. Car traffic segregate neighborhoods Livable streets, Donald Appleyard (1981)
33. Car traffic is the most common complaint Västra Ursvik, Sundbyberg Rinkeby Ursvik
34. Car dependency is unequal – Women and poor drive less (A car costs approx. $900 a month)
35. Cars take up space
36. Cars take up too much space
37. “Parking is the most incorrectly valued urban asset… A $310 bn parking subsidy, 5X the education budget.” (Public Parking Fees and Fines, Public Works Management & Policy, 2014)
38. Car infrastructure is heavily subsidized
39. Sprawl consumes land “In the last decade, an area larger than the entire state of Maryland — more than 33,000 square km of farmland, woodlands and other natural habitat beyond the edges of the nation’s cities” (2014)
40. Ecosystems are destroyed and fragmented
41. ”Green” cars?
42. Traffic make 20-25% of all CO2 Peak oil…?
43. The ecological footprint of a car is X800
44. Acid rain kills nature and pollutes water
45. ”Long live the pedestrians” says who?
46. Car speed means death
47. Streets where playgrounds before the car Allmänna vägen, Göteborg 1910
48. Bad density means more sprawl – forces families to move to the suburbs
49. Cars kill 1,2 Mn and injure 39 Mn every year
50. Car driving promotes obesity and early death
51. 2,4 Mn people dies from smog every year
52. ”Car driving is like drug addiction” (The compulsive habit of cars, Trends in cognitive science, 2014)
53. ”Choice blindness”
54. Car city
55. Car city Walk city
56. The end of the suburbs – A war on the dream?
57. Who says walk cities?
58. “We should embrace policies that promote the compact city” Joan Clos, UN Habitat
59. “City transport is about moving people, not vehicles” Rachel Kyte, World Bank
60. “High quality sidewalks are the most basic element of a democratic city.” Enrique Peñalosa, ITDP
61. “Pedestrians and cyclists and bus riders are more important — than car riders.” Michael Bloomberg, NYC
62. New American policies for walk cities New York Chicago
63. New Swedish policies for walk cities
64. Walk cities reclaimed
65. Cities are being reclaimed and repaired
66. Squares are reclaimed Time square, NY
67. Freeways are reclaimed CicLAvia, Los Angeles
68. This used to be as freeway…” Hayes Valley San Francisco
69. Parks are reclaimed Champs Elysées, Paris
70. Parking spaces are reclaimed
71. Gardens are reclaimed
72. Playgrounds are reclaimed
73. Downtowns are reclaimed Detroit
74. Small towns too – FLEN 2013
75. Small towns too – FLEN 2015
76. Small towns too – FLEN 2020
77. ǀ URBAN RESEARCH & DESIGNSPACESCAPE Alexander Ståhle PhD & CEO Spacescape [email protected] www.spacescape.se

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Next Week Is MassRides Car Free Week

From their website, also check out their facebook page, looks like a fun way to win some prizes for something a lot of you are probably already doing

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Celebrate Massachusetts Car-Free Week!

September 16th – 22nd, 2013

What is Massachusetts Car-Free Week?

Massachusetts Car-Free Week is an extension of World Car-Free Day, an annual event which has quickly spread to over 1,000 cities in 40 countries around the globe. Endorsing the environmental, financial, community and health benefits of green sustainable travel options, Massachusetts Car-Free Week promotes transit, bicycling, walking, carpooling, vanpooling and teleworking as greenermodes of transportation.

Pick a Day, Commute Another Way!

Win Great Prizes!

Travel Car-Free as many days as you can from September 16th – 22nd and track your green trips using NuRide. Not able to travel completely Car-Free? Try traveling Car-Light: Carpool or vanpool with friends, co-workers or family.
The more days you track, the greater your chances are to win! Participants will be eligible to win one of several daily prizes to and one of two grand prizes. You will also have a chance to win a $150 gift card by submitting a video (in 15-30 seconds or less in length) or photo that captures why you like your Car-Free or Car-Light commute. Entries will be posted towww.facebook.com/carfreeweek and the winner will be selected based on which photo or video accumulates the most “likes”. More information will be available on Facebook.

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