Should cities keep open streets after the pandemic?
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Date: 2020-05-22
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Comments and reviews: 9
KX36
I know USA is still extremely car-centric, but in other parts of the world, pedestrianising roads has gone way too far and idealism is exceeding practicality. Here in UK there is a lot of talk of replacing roads with cycle paths since COVID has driven people off of buses and onto bikes. However history shows us that people will forget this pretty quickly and want to be on the roads again (it only took 6 months for public transport use to return to normal after the 7/7/05 public transport bombings in London) except there won't be any roads to be on by then. Most of the centre of my local city (Leeds, UK, is pedestrianised shopping area, which works well. The problem is they are currently undertaking a massive project to redevelop the roads in the city centre and as part of that some of the very few main roads into the city centre, which are already an extreme bottleneck, will be pedestrianised. Not that many private cars drive into the city centre as there isn't much parking, and commercial vehicles have to go where they have to go, so removing roads will only make traffic worse.
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I know USA is still extremely car-centric, but in other parts of the world, pedestrianising roads has gone way too far and idealism is exceeding practicality. Here in UK there is a lot of talk of replacing roads with cycle paths since COVID has driven people off of buses and onto bikes. However history shows us that people will forget this pretty quickly and want to be on the roads again (it only took 6 months for public transport use to return to normal after the 7/7/05 public transport bombings in London) except there won't be any roads to be on by then. Most of the centre of my local city (Leeds, UK, is pedestrianised shopping area, which works well. The problem is they are currently undertaking a massive project to redevelop the roads in the city centre and as part of that some of the very few main roads into the city centre, which are already an extreme bottleneck, will be pedestrianised. Not that many private cars drive into the city centre as there isn't much parking, and commercial vehicles have to go where they have to go, so removing roads will only make traffic worse.
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Jeffrey
The closing of Chicago's Lakefront and 606 paths should not impact the ability of cyclists to go to work. There are plenty of alternatives. These paths are popular because there is almost no conflict with motorized traffic. The lakefront being, well next to Lake Michigan; and the 606 being a green trail converted from an elevated rail line. There are closed because the main use of those paths is recreation. And in some spots, shared with walkers and joggers. And, most importantly, surrounded by very dense residential high-rises. If you have a giant park/lake directly to the east of you, there is little incentive to build a nearby giant park to the west to accommodate all those people.
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The closing of Chicago's Lakefront and 606 paths should not impact the ability of cyclists to go to work. There are plenty of alternatives. These paths are popular because there is almost no conflict with motorized traffic. The lakefront being, well next to Lake Michigan; and the 606 being a green trail converted from an elevated rail line. There are closed because the main use of those paths is recreation. And in some spots, shared with walkers and joggers. And, most importantly, surrounded by very dense residential high-rises. If you have a giant park/lake directly to the east of you, there is little incentive to build a nearby giant park to the west to accommodate all those people.
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Sergio
I'm from Lima, Peru. actually the city has only built narrow temporary bike lanes on main avenues in the city center and so far and many people oponed this as they took one car lane to ''built'' them. There was a previous plan to build pedestrian oriented streets on the historic district, however it has stalled due to the pandemic. the main problem with the city is that there is not a real centralized government that takes care of citywide transit infrastructure and urban planning, and there are in reality 43 district in lima each one with a different mayor and independent urban development agency. Sorry for bad English: )
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I'm from Lima, Peru. actually the city has only built narrow temporary bike lanes on main avenues in the city center and so far and many people oponed this as they took one car lane to ''built'' them. There was a previous plan to build pedestrian oriented streets on the historic district, however it has stalled due to the pandemic. the main problem with the city is that there is not a real centralized government that takes care of citywide transit infrastructure and urban planning, and there are in reality 43 district in lima each one with a different mayor and independent urban development agency. Sorry for bad English: )
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Maria
Great video! My city was contemplating closing part of its main street to car traffic before the pandemic but has yet to use the lock down as an excuse to go ahead and do it. Apparently we have to pay a lot of money for some contractors to do some studies and hold a ton of meetings first. There was community resistance when the plan was first announced but since shelter in place neighborhood support has skyrocketed (at least for a temporary closure. Hopefully, the city will move quickly and people will see the benefits of less car traffic. I wish we had some urbanist vigilantes to put up some homemade barriers. ;)
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Great video! My city was contemplating closing part of its main street to car traffic before the pandemic but has yet to use the lock down as an excuse to go ahead and do it. Apparently we have to pay a lot of money for some contractors to do some studies and hold a ton of meetings first. There was community resistance when the plan was first announced but since shelter in place neighborhood support has skyrocketed (at least for a temporary closure. Hopefully, the city will move quickly and people will see the benefits of less car traffic. I wish we had some urbanist vigilantes to put up some homemade barriers. ;)
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Joseph
Hey, you should do a video on Miami's relatively new zoning system known as Miami 21 which claims to be based on the philosophy of New urbanism and smart growth. It would be interesting to do an analysis on its effects and whether it should be emulated. Also I think as an interesting aside would be to take a look at the interesting story of the neighborhood of Wynwood which was a low income warehouse district and has now been transformed into a center for culture and arts with huge tourist appeal due to the street art. It has also seen huge growth with residential buildings and commercial offices propping up.
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Hey, you should do a video on Miami's relatively new zoning system known as Miami 21 which claims to be based on the philosophy of New urbanism and smart growth. It would be interesting to do an analysis on its effects and whether it should be emulated. Also I think as an interesting aside would be to take a look at the interesting story of the neighborhood of Wynwood which was a low income warehouse district and has now been transformed into a center for culture and arts with huge tourist appeal due to the street art. It has also seen huge growth with residential buildings and commercial offices propping up.
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Connor
I support the open street idea in dc as it already kind of exists as people just walk across the middle of the road to get where they want to and as long as you arent on say Mass Ave the cars just kind of deal with it from my personal experience. I get bowsers fear but it has more to do with the culture of DC than other cities. There are so many festivals and block parties in the city there's at least one happening every day. DC is also the smartest city with the 3rd most 4 year degrees and the highest concentration of people with advanced degrees. I'd hope that would lead to people staying home
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I support the open street idea in dc as it already kind of exists as people just walk across the middle of the road to get where they want to and as long as you arent on say Mass Ave the cars just kind of deal with it from my personal experience. I get bowsers fear but it has more to do with the culture of DC than other cities. There are so many festivals and block parties in the city there's at least one happening every day. DC is also the smartest city with the 3rd most 4 year degrees and the highest concentration of people with advanced degrees. I'd hope that would lead to people staying home
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Felix
I ve been your sub for a while (on my other account) and I like most of your vids. However I think you ve been ignoring the elephant in the room with regard to COVID. The communities you recommend with tons of public transport, high-density residences, narrow streets, pedestrian blocks, lots of public spaces and facilities, etc. just welcome the spread of the virus. It doesn t fit your narrative, but suburban (one family) homes and private cars are much safer in this case. You haven t addressed this contradiction or offered any solutions, but I hope you will
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I ve been your sub for a while (on my other account) and I like most of your vids. However I think you ve been ignoring the elephant in the room with regard to COVID. The communities you recommend with tons of public transport, high-density residences, narrow streets, pedestrian blocks, lots of public spaces and facilities, etc. just welcome the spread of the virus. It doesn t fit your narrative, but suburban (one family) homes and private cars are much safer in this case. You haven t addressed this contradiction or offered any solutions, but I hope you will
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George
I have an issue with the closures. I m in Seattle and my son is disabled. The city has closed a bunch of streets, which we just drive around or through, but nobody has challenged us so far. Our problem is they have also closed roads and parking lots in parks. A lot of people are parking around the entrances of parks and walking in (creating parking issues in neighborhoods. What are disabled people supposed to do? Are we just locked out of parks? I hope this isn t permanent. Disabled people need parks too!
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I have an issue with the closures. I m in Seattle and my son is disabled. The city has closed a bunch of streets, which we just drive around or through, but nobody has challenged us so far. Our problem is they have also closed roads and parking lots in parks. A lot of people are parking around the entrances of parks and walking in (creating parking issues in neighborhoods. What are disabled people supposed to do? Are we just locked out of parks? I hope this isn t permanent. Disabled people need parks too!
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Paul
Been living in Paris for 4+ years now (in the 5eme) and Mayor Hidalgo is doing a great job. Not only are they closing streets. They are cutting down the number of vechical lanes on streets with actual infastructure (see rue Rivoli or quai Montebello with physical curbs added to seperate pedestrians. Rivoli is now closed to private cars (only buses/taxies can use one lane, the others are open for bikes/people. Hope you get to find your way here sometime in the future.
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Been living in Paris for 4+ years now (in the 5eme) and Mayor Hidalgo is doing a great job. Not only are they closing streets. They are cutting down the number of vechical lanes on streets with actual infastructure (see rue Rivoli or quai Montebello with physical curbs added to seperate pedestrians. Rivoli is now closed to private cars (only buses/taxies can use one lane, the others are open for bikes/people. Hope you get to find your way here sometime in the future.
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