The
bias in our national philosophy towards high speed mobility has long been a topic that PPS has advocated against. In addition to stifling Placemaking, forcing people into cars has contributed to a host of growing national problems. Most compelling of those problems is the incredible pedestrian carnage. Yet until recently public outcry was minimal and government investment in transportation paid only lip service to annual fatalities that amount to the equivalent of one major airplane crash each month. Read more: Project for Public Spaces | How to Restore Walking as a Way of Life
Albuquerque, New Mexico Downtown Walkability Analysis. This project focuses on walkability and connectivity in downtown, with special attention to the area surrounding the Convention Center and Innovate ABQ site as well as the railroad track at Central Avenue. Jeff Speck's final report submitted Sept 2014 here. More from the City of Albuquerque's website here.
Lisa Helps I was talking with a downtown business owner yesterday evening. She, like many, is concerned about the increased number of vacancies downtown over the past few years. We see this every day in the for lease signs that have become all too common in downtown storefronts. “We need to do downtown what you did in Fernwood,” she said to me. And she pointed to the creativity, innovation and bold action that me and others at Fernwood NRG took to address a big vacancy in the heart of our village centre and to revitalize the neighbourhood. It was early 2005...
Read more: How a boarded up building became the heart of a community: The Cornerstone Story - Voting Helps
Making downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico, more walkable doesn’t have to cost a bundle, according to consultant Jeff Speck. The author of Walkable City delivered a report to the city, which included the following recommendations:.
• Replace 19 low-volume traffic lights with stop signs.
• Narrow standard 12-foot travel lanes lanes to 10 feet. “This extra (lane) width does nothing except to encourage speeding,” he said. “It doesn’t improve the flow.”
• Convert two streets to two-way traffic from one-way.
• Provide more green space.
• Reduce the number of travel lanes on a few streets.
• Provide more on-street parking, which buffers pedestrians, and bicycle lanes. Reduction in lanes and lane widths will provide the space.
• Reduce the size of a major public space, Civic Plaza, which Speck says is too big to feel comfortable for pedestrians.
Read more: A low-cost approach to walkability | Better! Cities & Towns Online
