Livable Streets

In the shortest, sweetest Streetfilm ever, a 24-second stop-motion animation, Elizabeth Press perfectly illustrates a chicane which is a sequence of bump-outs that force drivers to slow down and drive a more circuitous route along a straight, wide street. An added side benefit, chicanes also create more sidewalk space to be used for benches, tables, plantings and street furniture.

The Rockefeller Foundation has opened up the nomination process for the 2008 Jane Jacobs Medal. The deadline to submit a nomination is February 1.

The following obituary was contributed by Ben Hamilton-Baillie, an urban designer based in Bristol, England. 

New Mobility Agenda's Eric Britton sends along sad news that Hans Monderman, the Dutch traffic engineer renowned for his innovative "shared space" plans emphasizing human interaction and negotiation over blind obedience to mechanical traffic control devices, died yesterday. He was a rare and radical traffic engineer who believed that the art and science of his profession could be used not just to facilitate the movement of motor vehicles but to build community and enhance human relationships. Britton writes:

On Sunday, January 6, over 200 people gathered to remember those killed by motor vehicles while biking and walking the streets of New York City in 2007. StreetFilms was there for the Street Memorial Project's 3rd Annual Memorial Ride & Pedestrian Walk. So were the parents of 27-year-old Sam Hindy, who was killed trying to navigate the Manhattan Bridge by bike in November. During the event, Sam's father, Brooklyn Brewery founder Steve Hindy, placed his son's death in the larger culture of an American car culture gone out of control:

Barack Obama is a long-time cyclist (Photo: Chicago Tribune)

New York Magazine's third annual "Reasons to Love New York City" issue hits newsstands this week. Reason #35? "Because the Head of the Department of Transportation is a Cycling Radical." While I'm not so sure that's a completely accurate description of the Commish, Anthony Weiss nicely sums up the change underway at DOT:

Webster Avenue and Fordham Road, the Bronx

 Photo: Lars Klove, Sixth Avenue and 13th Street, Manhattan.