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...
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| 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
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| Time Square 1950 |
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?
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| Time Square Today, 2013 |
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
This is a really nice blog over all, and the topic caught my eyes as well, only if Milwaukee would take some tips from the New Yorkers.
ReplyDeleteI agree!
DeleteDanielle, your blog post definitely piqued my interest in watching the TED talks video. New York definitely stands as an example of what cities can do to better address the changing expectations and lifestyles of such a diverse background of people. I really feel like Milwaukee has started to make strides towards positive change and I agree that if we took a queue from new York and adapted it to our city's unique set of challenges, we could also thrive.
ReplyDeleteReally interesting. I never gave the planning of streets much thought. It would be nice to see what could be done to Milwaukee's streets. There is definitely a need for repairs all over the city. It would be an excellent time to consider making changes instead of just repaving.
ReplyDeleteI must have been under a rock because I didn't realize that Times Square was closed to only foot traffic. If a city as large as New York can make such bold decisions like that why can't Milwaukee do some of the same?
ReplyDeleteInteresting, just as innovation has changed many industries, we really do need to take a hard look at our infrastructure in terms of the layouts with roads and highways. Many of our largest cities were designed a hundred or more years ago, I'm betting we can do a few things differently now to improve the layouts. Very interesting post and topic, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete