Proposal for Grand Army Plaza

Images via Streetsblog

I love going to Prospect Park but contending with Grand Army Plaza on the way there is enough to keep me away. There's a great discussion on Streetsblog about recent proposals that are meant to improve the pedestrian and bike experience. The proposal is an improvement on the current experience - there are more stable islands where pedestrians can wait and those holding areas are going to be prettified, but it is also fairly clear that cars continue to have priority in this public space. The improvements seem to be concentrated on what happens to circulation once you enter the vehicular area, and doesn't show the experience from the approach.

Regardless of the many nays, I hope some improvements will be made in the short-term. Still, I can't wait for the day when Grand Army Plaza is conceived as the spectacular entrance to Prospect Park, instead of a roundabout to connect the streets.

via Streetsblog

Clickies

How can Brasilia be worse? Check out the new secret capital of Myanmar (Burma).

Congestion-pricing a possibility sooner than we think?

Is a green mall an oxymoron? It will be built based on LEED specifications, but LEED does not guarantee that it will be in a place that will be easily accessed by transit and pedestrians, have good public spaces, etc. More at TreeHugger.

The Anti-McMansion

I loved the examples in this BusinessWeek article featuring the Japanese phenomenon of infill development - really really infill, filling the cracks of the city, essentially. Plots of land are between 300-400 square feet, and they still manage to build a home, with space for parents.

Article
Slide show

via Mocoloco

A new public space for Dumbo

Will Dumbo get a new public space in the middle of one of its streets?

The triangle seems to have gotten a whiff of inspiration from the Gansvoort proposal, though there isn't a big blank structure from a bridge there.



There are many intersections like these around New York, and sometimes it does seem that the City has given up making them useful for people and instead turning them over to cars. Now that there's greater community-based interest in reclaiming these space, the challenge is how to make the triangles provide for people without making them all feel the same.