Where to Park a Vespa in NYC?

Parked_Vespa.jpg

While the city is awash in places to park cars on the street and there is some provision for cyclists to park on sidewalks in some places, deciding where to park a Vespa is a difficult choice. Leave it on the street (like the photo above) where some automobile driver will inevitably hit it while trying to parallel park, or park it on the sidewalk where it might get a ticket since it’s technically illegal (like the one below). And the city is starting to crack down on sidewalk parking.

vespa_parked_2.jpg

Note how little space the scooters take up on both the street and the sidewalk. Now, what if there was dedicated parking for scooters and other motorcycles. What would that look like? It might look like this well-organized street in downtown San Francisco:

scooter_parking_SF.JPG

Photo Credits: Dcol, Lisa Whiteman, myself

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Eyes on the Street: Sidewalks for Pedestrians at the 78th Precinct

By Ben Fried |
Props to the 78th Precinct and commanding officer Michael Ameri for this one. Reader Wayne Bailey sends photos showing that the 78th is starting to get the sidewalk parking situation under control near the precinct house. Previously this block of Sixth Avenue was occupied by officers’ personal vehicles: It might seem like a small thing, […]

Sidewalk Parking Opponents Gain Ground in . . . Where?

By Aaron Donovan |
It is hard to tell exactly where the sidewalk meets the street above, where cars dominate the streetscape and wreck the pedestrian experience. Maybe that’s what’s to be expected in Los Angeles, where the photo was taken. As you can see, the upper row of cars are parked to straddle the curb (front wheels on the sidewalk, […]

Making NYC’s Streets Safe for Hydrants & Pay Phones

By Aaron Naparstek |
Bollards are hardened steel, concrete or stone posts buried into the pavement of city streets and sidewalks. In Northern European cities you see bollards all over the place. They are used to make sure that if a motor vehicle accidentally jumps up on to a sidewalk, pedestrians are protected. Bollards are a kind of urban […]
STREETSBLOG USA

The Crucial Connection Between Street Width and Walkability, in 3 Photos

By Angie Schmitt |
There’s a good deal of empirical evidence that narrower travel lanes are safer for everyone because they slow motorist speeds. On a perceptual level, narrow streets just feel more inviting, writes Katie Matchett at Network blog Where the Sidewalk Starts. Matchett looked at Jewel Street in the Pacific Beach neighborhood of San Diego, which varies in width. She shows how, as it transforms from […]