Village of Downers Grove, Illinois’ Post

Yes, not every city is NYC, but every city can (and should) implement context-appropriate bicycle facilities. I'd love to see localities adopt design guidelines that consider: - Existing bicycle facility usage - POTENTIAL for bicycle facility usage - Destinations likely to attract children (schools, parks, etc.) - Level of traffic stress and vehicular traffic volumes - Compliance with parking signage - Space available A cycle track on a high-volume, high-speed road with limited buffer might necessitate a jersey barrier. Parking-protected bike lanes with lots of drivers obstructing the bike lanes might warrant quick curbs or a concrete barrier. A bike lane along a bus route could warrant a wider concrete barrier that can also function as a bus stop. Lower-stress facilities might be fine with just planters and flex posts.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 "𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆" Daylighting is about seeing and being seen.  Whether you are walking, rolling, or driving, you and everyone you interact with on your city’s streets are safer when they can see what the other person is doing. Daylighting Pittsburgh’s many intersections can be done quickly and cheaply while providing immense safety benefits to people regardless of how they are traveling in the city. Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure has started to include daylighting as a part of their efforts to calm traffic and improve safety on corridors throughout the city on a project-by-project basis. More on our blog: https://lnkd.in/eYJK_Zg5 -- 📕 Education is important for the success of these crucial safety measures. Do you know someone who is confused about on-street infrastructure In Pittsburgh? Share our posts with them! And seriously, we get it. Change can be hard. But if we are going to keep our citizens safe and and our city thriving, then we need to learn to grow and adapt together.

Rather than just serving vehicles as transportation networks, our streets can be spaces in which to convene, create, and experiment The enhanced roles streets can play include: Streets as Living Rooms: the “third spaces” where communities are forged. Placemaking strategies that create the infrastructure for these meaningful interactions include tactical plazas, parklets, open streets, and sidewalk cafes. Streets as Canvasses: a place for creative expression. Programs that enable these activities include Street Murals, Temporary Art, and Paint Box. Streets as Experiments: public spaces where new tech- nologies are tested and integrated into the built environ- ment. The New Urban Mechanics’ Public Space Invitational, the Kiosk Program, and the Soofa bench initiative are examples of how placemaking can provide space for experimentation. ✍️ City of Boston, Tactical Public Realm Guidelines

Road design is highly influential on the speed people will drive, regardless of posted speed limits. One of the available lifehacks for any city looking to retrofit neighborhood walkability or protect and prioritize vulnerable populations, is to install cameras as a first step to physical redesign. And if you’re a person that’s continually finding themselves speeding past elementary schools or down shopping main streets, that may require some further introspection beyond the reach of good urbanism.

Did you know today is Parking Day? Some of you maybe wondering what exactly is Parking Day. Well let me explain. PARK(ing) Day fosters social interaction, civic engagement, critical thinking, and creativity through community participation and play. Each year on the third Friday of September, cities worldwide partake in transforming parking spaces into vibrant parks. Local residents, organizations, and businesses collaborate to create inviting spaces for relaxation, networking, and entertainment. This annual event turns any downtown into a living urban laboratory, showcasing innovative ideas and featuring performances from local artists. Why I believe PARK(ing) Day is so very Important in todays world. 1. Community Building: It encourages residents to connect, fostering a sense of belonging and community spirit. 2. Reimagining Urban Spaces: It challenges conventional uses of public space, promoting innovative solutions for urban design. 3. Civic Engagement: By involving diverse groups, it empowers citizens to express their ideas and advocate for change in their neighborhoods. 4. Environmental Awareness: It highlights the need for green spaces in urban areas, encouraging sustainable practices and enhancing city livability. After almost 3 decades of collaborating with landscape architects and urban planners, I've concluded that landscape architecture is vital to the future of humanity. This profession inspires me so and attracts critical thinkers who intricately weave community, culture, creativity, and sustainability and soul into every aspect of their designs and lives. I am incredibly proud that our teams have the opportunity to work with some of the nation's leading landscape architects right here in Texas, alongside our SPEKtacular manufacturers such as mmcité usa and @hausersite @edsconcrete @outsider @idsculpture. For all those who celebrated Parking Day today, let’s keep building stronger connections and communities together! Share your Parking Day pictures and tell my why it’s so important to you. Together we can make our cities Spektacular, and let’s keep being the SPEK that Makes a Difference. #lightspek #sitespek #standupforyourspek #spekthatmakesadifference #parkingday #nationalasla #texasasla #getoutside #teamworkmakesthedreamwork #bellandmccoy #frm #lighting

Here are 10 tactics to plan for better walkability with immediate implementation, improving safety and reviving a city center in the process. #walkability #masterplanning #designforpeoplenotcars ##propertydevelopment #realestatedevelopment

Walkability - we can get there. We need to get there. “As related in Walkable City, people will choose to walk when walking is useful, safe, comfortable and interesting. Three of those qualities—useful, comfortable, and interesting—are principally a function of long-term planning. Proper zoning codes, incentives, and hand-holding can help a city achieve the mixed-use fabric of friendly-faced buildings that give people a reason to walk and keep walking. But these things take time, one political cycle at least. Meanwhile, a city can achieve much greater safety in just a year or two, before the next election, by fixing its streets. And the mandate could not be greater because, if you haven’t been paying attention, it’s a bloodbath out there. Pedestrian deaths have risen 82 percent since 2009. Norm Garrick notes how, in 1970, a pedestrian was twice as likely to be killed in a crash in the US than in the Netherlands; today the ratio is 20 to 1.”

Land Use and Transportation are two interwoven disciplines. If you want a pedestrian friendly downtown, then you need to consider more than just the land uses and the building design. You need to consider the whole experience, especially those outside of a building or vehicle.

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the launch of the Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation (CIHT)'s "Creating a Public Realm for All" report. The event's speakers were fantastic, highlighting their experiences and expertise in bringing real change to their local streets. My main takeaways are: 1) Making the streets accessible to all makes them better for everyone. 2) Street furniture and tactile paving can be overdone, making it difficult for whellchair users to get past or for blind people to understand their position on a pavement. 3) When trying out an idea, get people who it is designed for actually there because (and this is real) not all spaces for wheelchairs are big enough for wheelchairs. Although these are not new ideas, awareness is key for everyone to understand the quality of the spaces that they are living and working with.

Still designing street lighting as if your project is flat? A street light at the top of a hill performs very differently than one at the bottom. We need to focus on directing light where it's needed—like crosswalks and bike lanes—and keeping it out of places where it's not—like building facades and private property. Most importantly, we must avoid creating hazards by shining a LED light bomb into a driver's eyes. Some areas may be relatively flat, but what about cities like Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Seattle, and Denver? 💡 Street lighting's power is largely untapped, but its potential is vast and waiting to be mapped. 🌟 Follow me for bright insights on municipal and utility street lighting. 🌆 City of Pittsburgh City and County of San Francisco City of Seattle Seattle City Light City and County of Denver