E-bulletin 23: Feb. 15, 2008

STREET TALK!
Pandemonium in the parking lot: why are our instincts on parking are wrong?
Thu. Feb. 28, 6 - 8 pm
Jason Schrieber and Mark Chase of Nelson/ Nygaard

NOTE LOCATION: @ Adaptive Environments showroom, 200 Portland Street, next to North Station, Boston [ map... ] [1]
free and open to the public, donation suggested, beer/wine/drinks served

Often seen as the poor relation of architecture and design, both unglamorous and often unattractive, parking is viewed as a necessary evil. If the parking system works well, nobody notices. If it doesn't, parking can work against a city's best efforts to improve urban design, manage traffic and achieve a wide array of other goals. How we structure and where we place parking facilities often dictates the shape of buildings, affects the financial feasibility of projects, and impacts the beauty of a place. Jason and Mark will discuss the growing number of American cities --large and small-- that are reforming parking requirements and proving we can build walkable, beautiful places that reasonably including parking. These cities are the vanguard in a planning & design movement that is reducing traffic, increasing economic performance and protecting the environment.

Nelson\Nygaard is a US-based consulting firm with an office in Boston providing a broad range of transit and multi-modal transportation services.

This event is sponsored by LivableStreets Alliance and hosted by Adaptive Environments

Click here for more information [2]

STREET TALK by special guest DAN BURDEN !
Simply put, Dan helps communities find their hearts and promote walkable communities.

Mon. Mar. 10, 6:30 - 8:30 pm
Dan Burden, founder of Walkable Communities [3], consultant for Glatting Jackson [4]

STAY TUNED FOR LOCATION

If you've never heard Dan Burden give a presentation, you really don't know what you are missing. In the realm of livable streets, Dan is a hero.

Once called the "Johnny Appleseed" of livable communities, Dan drives forward as confidently as if he were entering his own neighborhood, and talks about his work and his vision of the slowly emerging, post-sprawl America. People's optimism about improving their communities often wavers when they talk about the clutter, confusion, and congestion they see through their windshields. It falters again when they reach inside themselves to describe the absences sprawl imposes on their lives: It steals time, choice, and proximity to others--not just open space. We are not only farther away from schools and shops, from friends and neighbors, from fields and woods; more and more of each day is given over to a tense, effortful, unnourishing, and for now unavoidable in-between-ness. This townless, countryless, road-bound running around stretches us thin; our bodies are in motion-but what is there around us to anchor our hearts and minds?

Burden is part of the suddenly arrived profession that promotes new kinds of communities. He is one of a (small but growing) group of itinerant designers and facilitators are now crisscrossing the country conducting workshops with local residents. They're exploring the possibilities of changing streets and buildings in ways that would add pleasure and reassurance to cities and towns. Does a city become more lovable as it becomes more livable? Can we find a balance between cars and people? What about the even trickier balance between land and cars and people? Can developers and local officials move from blueprints to "greenprints," so that a town's growth plans add green space to people's lives, instead of taking it away? These are a few of the many questions that Dan tackles. But it's not easy. "I tell my audiences that Schopenhauer long ago defined the three stages all new ideas go through: ridicule, violent opposition, and acceptance," says Burden. "I've never yet seen a single step skipped in any community."

Click here for more information [5]

WALKBOSTON ANNUAL CELEBRATION
Thursday March 6, 2008

4:00 | Downtown Development Walk
Led by BRA's John Palmieri, Executive Director, and Kairos Shen, Director of Planning. Visit building sites currently under development. Learn how they will benefit and impact peds and shape the downtown streetscape. South Station Tower/Hines; Hayward Place/MDA Partners; Paramount Center/Emerson College; Filene's [1 Franklin St.] / Gale-Vornado; Trans National Center/ Meredith & Grew. Meet: South Station | Front door under the eagle

5:30 | Eat | Drink | Schmooze
Reception at WilmerHale, 60 State Street | 26th floor, Suggested donation: $20

7:00 | Speaker | Jon Orcutt | New York City DOT | Senior Policy Advisor

Click here for more information [6]

NEWS TIDBITS

Boston and Cambridge are Green! Boston was ranked third -- behind San Francisco and Portland, Ore. -- and Cambridge sixth on the list of "greenest" cities based on criteria such as electricity use, transportation habits, air quality and recycling programs, according to a study that will appear in the March issue of Popular Science. Unfortunately, the subsequent Menino press release didn't include bicyclist and pedestrian-friendly policies as part of it's other environmental plans for the city. [ more [7] ]

Boston Bike Summit report released. Yesterday, Boston sent out it's first Boston Bikes e-newsletter which included a report on recommendations for Boston’s new bicycle initiative [ more [8] ]. Contact Nicole.Freedman.bra@cityofboston.gov [9] to get on this list. Also, if you know any good candidates for Boston's "Bike Friendly Business Awards", suggest that they apply [ more [10] ].

Video of horrible conditions for wheelchairs on Longfellow Bridge. Even after LivableStreets finally met face-to-face with DCR Commissioner Sullivan last November and showed him this video, the agency has yet to respond with any indication that they plan to even consider taking action. Very disappointing.[ more [11] ] [ video [12] ].

Silver Line reliability declines. Despite efforts to run it more like a subway - and less like a bus - reliability on the Washington Street Silver Line continued to fall through the end of 2007, according to an MBTA report obtained by BostonNOW. The MBTA in part blames cars double parked in the bus lane, and delivery trucks on Temple Street. But the Silver Line line is first operated by the MBTA to use a state-of-the-art GPS tracking system designed to improve performance-- but why isn't it effective? [ more [13] ]

MBTA "wayfinding" pilot at Alewife met with criticism. After rejecting the idea of subcontracting the project out to professional designers and wayfinding experts, the MBTA decided to take the project in-house and attempt to do it themselves. The results are very disappointing to those who understand the importance of this effort. Wayfinding is not just signs. And even the typeface is difficult to read. [ see images [14] ] [ history of signs [15] ].

Take MAPC's Pededstrian Survey. What are the most important issues facing pedestrians in our Region? [ more [16] ].

3'-By-4' Plot Of Green Space Rejuvenates Neighborhood. Notorious for its abandoned buildings, industrial warehouses, and gray, dilapidated roads, Detroit's Warrendale neighborhood was miraculously revitalized this week by the installation of a single, three-by-four-foot plot of green space. [ more [17] ]

UPCOMING PUBLIC MEETINGS & EVENTS

Tue. Feb. 19, 6 pm: Green Line Extension pubic workshop regarding Union Square station location. (@ 93 School St, Somerville) [ more [18] ]

Tue. Feb. 19, noon: Accessible Skating. DCR's Universal Access Program. Come experience skating with ice sleds and other supportive devices! Regardless of ability, everyone can enjoy the ice and play sled hockey! The Secretary of Environmental Affairs will be there and possibly Speaker DiMasi and Senator Petrucelli. (@ North End, Boston) [ more [19] ]

Wed. Feb. 20, 1-3pm: MA Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board (@ Rm. 4150, Transportation Building, Boston) [ more [20] ]

Mon. Feb. 25, 6 pm: Arborway Corridor Public Meeting regarding improvements to the 39 bus corridor (@ Agassiz School, JP) [ more [21] ]

Mon. Feb. 25, 6:30 pm: "Cities and Transportation" Talk by David Luberoff and Stephanie Pollack (@ Rm 215 Shillman Hall, Northeastern U.) [ more [22] ]

Wed. Feb. 27, 7 pm: Brookline Street reconstruction (in Cambridge) community meeting including traffic calming and a plan including bike lanes (@ Morse School, Cambridgeport) [ more [23] ]

Thu. Feb. 28, 6:00pm: LivableStreets STREET TALK Pandemonium in the parking lot (@ Adaptive Environments, North Station, Boston) [ more [24] ]

Thu. Feb. 28, 6:30pm: Fenway - Longwood - Kenmore neighborhood transportation forum, including presentations about potential multi-use bike paths (@ Boston Arts Academy) [ more [25] ]

Thu. Mar. 6, 5:30pm: WalkBoston Annual Celebration (@ 60 State Street, Boston) [ more [26] ]

Mon. Mar. 10, 4-6pm: Urban Ring Citizens Advisory Committee (@ BRA Board Room 9th Floor, Boston City Hall) [ more [27] ]

Mon. Mar. 10, 6:30pm: LivableStreets STREET TALK with special guest Dan Burden. [ more [28] ]