Word on the Street - Streetsblog New York City

3:12 PM EST on November 17, 2006

1. Gridlock Sam Tells the Story of NYC's First Bike Lanes (14 comments)
Last summer my family and I rode the Montreal buffered bike lanes. My wife and 2 teenaged daughters declared the buffered lanes to be very comfortable, safe, and a real pleasure to ride in. They never bike here in NYC however because they find the traffic too terrifying.
Comment by da - November 13, 2006 @ 11:54 pm

2. Mayor Livingstone: $50 to Drive an SUV into Central London (18 comments)
I saw a wide-ranging presentation by Prof. Peter Newman last week. He is a scholar of sustainability and transportation and has been involved for years in municipal politics in Australia -- I believe most recently as sustainability commissioner for Sydney. It was painfully striking how far behind the rest of the developed world we are in the discourse and practice regarding liveable, environmentally sustainable cities.
Comment by Orcutt - November 15, 2006 @ 1:13 pm

3. T is for Transit-Oriented Development? (59 comments)
It often seems that many architects don't understand that the fundamental unit of urban landscapes is the human body. Streetsblog is predicated on this understanding, after all. We experience space in relation to our persons. And if it seems like non-architects are unwilling to experiment with urban forms, I'd agree that is true, but with good reason - the human form is more or less static....
Comment by Greg - November 15, 2006 @ 10:35 am

4. Ad Nauseam: Ford Mustang Shelby GT 500 (14 comments)
In America big brother or the social police do not tell us what to drive or what to buy. No one tells us to waste gas or to conserve it, to waste money or save it, to watch tv or read a book. We choose on our own. You are free to drive what you want as I am. You can drive a Prius or a Mercedes or a Pinto, or a bicycle, it is your choice. Where do you get off implying you are right and someone else is wrong?
Comment by Rick - November 17, 2006 @ 1:31 am

Aaron Naparstek

AARON NAPARSTEK is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparsteks journalism, advocacy and community organizing work has been instrumental in growing the bicycle network, removing motor vehicles from parks, and developing new public plazas, car-free streets and life-saving traffic-calming measures across all five boroughs. Naparstek is the author of "Honku: The Zen Antidote for Road Rage" (Villard, 2003), a book of humorous haiku poetry inspired by the endless motorist sociopathy observed from his apartment window. Prior to launching Streetsblog, Naparstek worked as an interactive media producer, pioneering some of the Web's first music web sites, online communities, live webcasts and social networking services. Naparstek is currently in Cambridge with his wife and two young sons where he is enjoying a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. He has a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and a bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Naparstek is a co-founder of the Park Slope Neighbors community group and the Grand Army Plaza Coalition. You can find more of his work here: http://www.naparstek.com.

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