StreetLife
#42 / February 2010
The monthly newsletter of the LivableStreets Alliance |
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StreetTalk
· No Zoning: Why Houston May Be Our Future... Wed, March 3, 7-9 pm >>>
· Did you miss the last StreetTalk?
Announcements
· Options for River St & Western Ave Bridges, Charles River
· LivableStreets welcomes new board members
· LivableStreets Founder will be honored at WalkBoston 20th Anniversary Celebration
· Volunteer / Wish list
· Sign up for StreetHeadlines
· New parkway and bike path construction
· Partner news: events, job openings, t-shirt contest, and more
Recent Activity
· MBTA planning upgrade to Rt 39 bus line through JP & Back Bay
· Blog: How to create positive change
· New report links lacks of ped/bike facilities to traffic accidents & injuries
· US Department of Transportation endorses 'Livability'
· New York City Issues Active Design Guidelines to Promote Healthy Buildings
Calendar -- Click here to view full calendar of public meetings and related events |
StreetTalk
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No Zoning: Why Houston May Be Our Future...
by Zakcq Lockrem, LivableStreets board member & Masters Candidate at Harvard GSD
@ LivableStreets office, 100 Sidney St, Cambridge [map...]
Open to the public. Suggested $5-10 donation. Harpoon beer provided as supplies last.
 No Zoning: Why Houston May Be Our Future...
... and why that may not be such a bad thing. Deep in "Red Territory," America's fourth largest city is seldom used as an example of good planning ideas. Instead, it is thought of as an example of what not to do. Yet, as the only major American city without zoning, Houston is a prime example of how transportation planning shapes our cities, for both good and bad. Although 100 years of auto-centric planning have left Houston a sprawling metropolis, the addition of a single light rail line 6 years ago (and an aggressive plan for 4 more lines by 2012) has revealed an ally that advocates seldom trust in the fight for a denser, more walkable future: the market. By exploring Houston's experience, we can learn a lot about the connections between transportation and land use, the role that zoning has played in creating our current auto-centered predicament (and what our alternatives are), and how to answer when someone tells us that Americans just don't want denser living.
Zakcq Lockrem is a LivableStreets Alliance board member, a Master of Urban Planning Candidate at the Harvard's Graduate School of Design, and a leader of the Boston Chapter of the Planners Network. Zakcq has work experience in transportation, infrastructure and housing, and has contributed to projects in West Africa, Mexico, California, Louisiana and around New England.
Hosted by LivableStreets Alliance.
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Did you miss the last StreetTalk?
Thanks to everyone who made our last StreetTalk our biggest ever.
The 100 + people who braved the chilly weather to pack into our office were treated to an excellent talk by Barbara Knecht, the Director of Design for the Institute for Human Centered Design and co-directory of IHP's "Cities in the 21st Century" program. Barbara discussed the concept of human-centered design and gave examples of how streets all over the world accommodate different kinds of users.
Contact Jackie for an audio recording.
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Options for River St & Western Ave Bridge, Charles River
Last week the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) held the first in
a series of public meetings to discuss the reconstruction of the River St and Western Ave bridges over the Charles River, connecting Allston and Cambridge. The primary goal of this meeting was to review the structural deficiencies of the bridges and collect initial input from the public.
LivableStreets handed out flyers to meeting attendees and spoke about the need to address access issues affecting the bridges and Charles River paths. LivableStreets is interested in ensuring that each project makes improvements for pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, and
overall safety in addition to structural repairs.
 Comments from others in attendance focused on a number of key issues, particularly
regarding better access to, from, and across the bridges for pedestrians and bicyclists. While MassDOT representatives were not sure of the exact scope of the project at this time, they did recognize the need for improvements to the intersections around the bridges. They noted that they are working with the cities of Boston and Cambridge to be sure that the bridge cross-sections complement plans to add bike lanes to Western Ave and Cambridge St, in particular by adding bike lanes across the bridges.
The next public meeting will be a Conceptual Design Meeting in April 2010, planned to be
held in Cambridgeport. Check out our online calendar with all events and meetings related to urban transportation in the region to find out about upcoming meetings.
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LivableStreets welcomes new board members
Aaron Desatnik, Megan Ramey and Wenzday Jane
 "We are proud to have the three join the leadership team of LivableStreets. Their enthusiasm for the LivableStreets mission and organizational development, and their wide variety of expertise in business management, architecture and marketing, is a great asset," says Nina Garfinkle, board member. LivableStreets board of directors and staff include citizens, professional engineers, planners and designers . Learn more about who is who at LivableStreets at www.livablestreets.info/people.
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LivableStreets Founder will be honored at WalkBoston 20th Anniversary Celebration
Thurs, March 11
4:15 pm walk starting at Back Bay T station
5:30 pm party at Wilmerhale, 60 State St, 26th Floor (near State Street T station)
We are proud to announce that LivableStreets Alliance founder Jeff Rosenblum has been awarded a Golden Shoe Award for his transportation advocacy work. WalkBoston, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving walking conditions across Massachusetts, awards annual Golden Shoe Awards every year at their annual meeting to people who are improving walking in cities across the state. LivableStreets board members Ken Kruckemeyer, Chris Hart and Nina Garfinkle have been awarded Golden Shoes in the past.
Come celebrate WalkBoston's 20th anniversary. For more info, click here >>>
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Be part of StreetLife e-newsletter team!
 Want an easy, and time-limited, way to get involved with LivableStreets Alliance? How about helping create this monthly e-newsletter?
If you're willing to put in a couple hours each month, we will send you material for you to write a small piece. Don't worry if you're not an experienced journalist, our editing process will totally back you up.
If you want, you can do your part at any time of the day you desire, without ever leaving your home - we can do all the arrangements and share electronically. You can also be part of the planning and review process.
Wish list:
LivableStreets office is looking for some supplies. Consider making an in-kind donation of:
Please contact Jackie at 617.621.1746 or jackie@livablestreets.info if you are interested in making an in-kind donation. Thank you!
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Sign up for StreetHeadlines
Want to learn more about what's happening in the world of urban transportation?
Don't have time to search the national media for transportation-related news? Can't get enough of LivableStreets publications? Sign up for our weekly StreetHeadlines publication - a weekly e-mail with top headlines and quick links to news stories related to urban transportation compiled by LivableStreets board member, Charlie Denison.
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New parkway and bike path construction
Alewife Greenway, Nonantum Road, Watertown Bike Path
Construction on three new Boston-area parkway and bike path projects should begin by early this summer.
The Alewife Greenway is a pedestrian path running from the Alewife T Station along Rte. 16 to the Medford border. Nonantum Road will get a new bike lane and a "road diet" treatment eliminating one of its car lanes along the Charles River from Allston to Newton. The Watertown Bike Path will run along an old rail bed and partially connect the Minuteman Trail to the Charles River paths.
Collectively, these are some of the most significant bike/pedestrian improvements in the state Department of Conservation and Recreation's (DCR) Urban Parks system in many years.
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Partner news - events, job openings, t-shirt contest
LivableStreets shares a vision and collaborates with many other local, national and international organizations. They are also busy at work with many exciting upcoming events, contests, opportunities to get involved, and more!
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MoveMass meeting: How will we get a'round' Fri, Feb 19, 8 AM. RSVP >>>
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National Bike Summit in Washington DC, March 9-11. Register here >>>
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Bikes Not Bombs is hiring. Check out the job description here >>>
- City of Cambridge internship opportunity >>>
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MassBike event March 18, 6:30 pm >>>
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Transportation Management Associations T-shirt design competition >>>
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Recent Activity
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MBTA Planning Upgrade to Rt 39 bus line through JP & Back Bay
After over a year of community meetings and small group discussions, the MBTA has developed plans - still evolving in response to continuing public input - on ways to upgrade its second most-used line. The 39 bus line through Jamaica Plain and the Back Bay is one of the agency's "key routes" and has priority for upgrading.
 The current goal is to speed-up trips, make boarding and exiting easier and safer, provide legally required handicapped access, and better serve a changing neighborhood. The plans include sidewalk extensions that provide room for new shelters, make it easier for buses to get close to the curb, and reduce conflicts with passing pedestrians. The plan also consolidates overly-close stops and uses the new GPS systems on each bus to provide information about waiting times.
At a recent public meeting, LivableStreets Alliance praised MBTA staff for helping the community deal with the countless details and many differing opinions in order to redesign the bus route. T staff pointed out that the project will be able to use the needed federal stimulus money only if planning can be completed over the next two months, and urged continued discussions to settle remaining issues and fine tune the plan.
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Blog: How to Create Positive Change
Musings on transportation, health, and livable communities
by Steve Miller, LivableStreets Alliance board member
Blog can be accessed from LivableStreets homepage or http://blog.livablestreets.info
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As LivableStreets Alliance has often pointed out, lack of investment in biking and walking could be contributing to higher traffic fatalities and chronic disease rates in the U.S. While 10% of trips in the U.S. are by bike or foot, these travel modes receive less than 2% of federal transportation dollars. Perhaps as a result, a disproportionate share of traffic fatalities involve bicyclists and pedestrians. Seniors are at an even greater risk. While adults over 65 make up 9% of walking trips and 4% of biking trips, they account for 19% of pedestrian fatalities and 9% of bicyclist fatalities.
