Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Amsterdam

STREETFILMS: Letting Citizens Redesign Their Streets

A Streetsfilm by Clarence Eckerson shows all the good things that can happen when neighborhoods take charge.

Streetsblog publisher and Open Plans Chairman Mark Gorton traveled recently to Amsterdam to witness the results of a marvelous experiment.

Residents of the Frans Halsbuurt neighborhood joined with their District Alderman Rocco Piers and city planners this year to create public amenities in the space freed up by the removal of 600 parking spots.

Mark Gorton (left) and Amsterdam Alderman Rocco Piers survey the coolest-ever loading zone, in Amsterdam's Frans Haalsburt neighborhood.
Mark Gorton (left) and Amsterdam Alderman Rocco Piers survey the coolest-ever loading zone, in Amsterdam's Frans Halsbuurt neighborhood.
Mark Gorton (left) and Amsterdam Alderman Rocco Piers survey the coolest-ever loading zone, in Amsterdam's Frans Haalsburt neighborhood.

District residents met over several months with the designers to hone their ideas: They overwhelmingly favored more green, more play areas, tons of bike parking and environmentally friendly practices while also preserving limited access for cars and retaining ample loading zones on each block for residents to still use a car when the need arises.

So they and the designers turned the former parking spaces to such uses as bike parking, a sandbox-trampoline combination, loading zones for freight delivery, and land for a curbside garden. The re-envisioned neighborhood is the kind of car-free, kid-friendly oasis that Gorton says could be replicated in New York City by organizations such as Open Plans's Neighborhood Empowerment Project and Streetopia  UWS.

It might even be a winning political formula: Amsterdam is in the process of removing 10,000 parking spaces in neighborhoods around the city after local politician Piers and members of his party ran and won office in part on a platform of liberating public space from private car storage.

Streetsfilm's Clarence Eckerson documented the visit, which followed an earlier video travelogue about the planned removal of the 10,000 spaces. For a glimpse of this little bit of urban paradise, click the link below.

http://www.streetfilms.org/letting-citizens-redesign-their-streets-mark-gorton-talks-with-amsterdams-rocco-piers/https://vimeo.com/357573553

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

OPINION: Can Regional Governance Break New York Out of Its Constant State of Transit Emergency?

The New York region needs to fundamentally change the way it governs its transit system, our contributor writes.

December 20, 2024

Friday’s Headlines: ‘So, How Was Your Day?’ Edition

You didn't come here to find out about yesterday's crime news. Instead, here's the livable streets news!

December 20, 2024

Albany Should Use ‘Underutilized’ Transit Fund For LIRR, Metro-North Discounts: Report

An "underutilized" pot of state transportation funds could help lure more New York City residents onto the LIRR and Metro-North, according to a new report.

December 19, 2024

See It: The McGuinness Road Diet Works — But Only Where the City Installed It

The road diet works, exposing the need to extend it all the way.

December 19, 2024

Thursday’s Headlines: Snow and Tell Edition

The Sanitation Department is even better prepared for winter. Plus other news.

December 19, 2024
See all posts