Urbanizing Our Cities Streets

After going through a few TED Talks ( http://www.ted.com/talks ) presentations with much skepticism I came across one about New York Streets that peaked my interest. I was blown away by a presentation by Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan: "New York's streets? Not so mean any more". 

At first glance what caught my attention was the title, "New York's streets? Not so mean any more". Although I have only been to New York once, I have a true passion and respect for New York City. Most of the people surrounding me in my life have not traveled and a large city like New York ends up looking like the big bad wolf. New Yorkers have the image of being extremely selfish and rude. After living in Wisconsin my whole life and visiting and knowing New Yorkers myself, I can honestly say that New Yorkers are some of the most friendly and considerate city dwellers I have ever come across. I would be proud to be a New Yorker and I am almost ashamed of my own state. Based on this stereotype of New Yorkers I had assumed the Commissioners presentation was based on the people walking the streets of New York. Personally I feel more comfortable roaming the streets of New York over my own streets of Milwaukee. This assumption was wrong...

Time Square 2008

The presentation by Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan was based on the the needed change of the infrastructure of urban streets, using New York as a prime example. Commissioner Sadik-Khan begins by explaining that urban life is growing in numbers with estimates that the world population will double its size within the next 40 years. Knowing this there should be more focus on urban lifestyles, especially the layout of the city streets. At this point you might wonder where on earth could this go? Or this could be a snore fest... but I was pleasantly surprised.

Most designs of urban streets haven't changed in decades. Apparently, the design of a street can tell you everything about what's expected of the that street. I was totally unknowing of how the design of a street

Time Square 1950

could really make that much of a difference. The Commissioner explained how and why a street is designed in the way it is. I had one of those "Ohhh!" moments, I was wowed by the reasoning and surprisingly enlightened by the layouts that were shown during the presentation. One intriguing fact that the Commissioner points out therough her slide show presentation to is that between the fifty-eight year span of 1950 and 2008 the flow of traffic hadn't really changed in Time Square. After looking over all their data and research, they realized that there needed to be a balance with the walking and driving traffic.

Today Time Square has had a complete makeover. The streets have been rerouted allowing only foot traffic. A big focus has been brought in with seating. Janette protraded this with showing people on the side of the streets sitting on fire hydrants. These results were overwhelming. Not only were the changes safer, but the change also became profitable instead of costly. The traffic was moving quicker and smoother. People flocked to the newly designed space surprising quick and five new flagged retail stores opened.

Janette Sadik-Khan explains that the project is not complete, but the idea has been utilized throughout New York City. For a city once known for the dangers of messenger biking, change is in the air with safe bike paths. Unnecessary streets and parking areas are transformed into public seating areas and walkways. Understanding the changing needs of the city brought out new and promising venues, such as the Citi Bike sharing program. Watching the many positive changes that this presentation showed only gave me wonder on what other cities could do. If New York can, why can't we try?

Time Square Today, 2013

The presentation by Janette Sadik-Khan was quite inspiring.  She was able to bring her audience into the world she sees with the by using a PowerPoint presentation.  Her presentation wasn't boring by the least, she was quite comical during the entire duration and paced herself perfectly.  Although there wasn't any Q&A with the audience, you realize how engaged they were by their reactions throughout the presentation.  I would recommend viewing Janette Sadik-Khan's presentation on New York streets.



For more information please view the presentation on TED Talks: Janette Sadik-Khan: "New York's streets? Not so mean any more"
http://www.ted.com/talks/janette_sadik_khan_new_york_s_streets_not_so_mean_any_more.html