{"id":138286071,"date":"2009-05-20T12:47:51","date_gmt":"2009-05-20T12:47:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=138286071"},"modified":"2009-05-20T12:47:51","modified_gmt":"2009-05-20T12:47:51","slug":"in-the-future-the-citys-streets-are-to-behave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=138286071","title":{"rendered":"In the Future, the City\u2019s Streets Are to Behave"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By DAVID W. CHEN &#8211; New York Times<br \/>\nImagine narrow European-style roadways shared by pedestrians, cyclists and cars, all traveling at low speeds. Sidewalks made of recycled rubber in different colors under sleek energy-efficient lamps. Mini-islands jutting into the street, topped by trees and landscaping, designed to further slow traffic and add a dash of green.<br \/>\nThis is what New York City streets could look like, according to the Bloomberg administration, which has issued the city\u2019s first street design manual in an effort to make over the utilitarian 1970s-style streetscape that dominates the city.<br \/>\nThe Department of Transportation will begin reviewing development plans to see whether they align with the 232-page manual\u2019s guidelines, and promises that projects with these features will win approval quickly.<br \/>\n\u201cLots of things have changed in 40 years, but this part of our infrastructure hasn\u2019t,\u201d said Janette Sadik-Khan, the city\u2019s transportation commissioner. \u201cIf we\u2019re going to be a world-class city, we need guidelines that lay out the operating instructions of how we get there.\u201d<br \/>\nThe manual, to be released on Wednesday, culminates nearly two years of work involving more than a dozen agencies led by the Department of Transportation. By offering \u201ca single framework and playbook,\u201d as Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg says in the introduction, the manual promises to simplify the design process and reduce the costs for city agencies, urban planners, developers and community groups.<br \/>\nUrban planners say that the document is long overdue, and that it promises to be as much a map to the future as it is a handbook for the present: getting people to think about streets as not just thoroughfares for cars, but as public spaces incorporating safety, aesthetics, environmental and community concerns.<br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\n&#8230;<br \/>\nThe manual also sheds light on how cumbersome the design process for development or renovation has been, given the number of agencies or entities normally involved. On a typical street, according to one illustration, almost a dozen entities \u2014 including six city agencies \u2014 are responsible for elements ranging from sidewalk cafes (Department of Consumer Affairs) to utility poles (Department of Transportation) to facades or awnings (Department of Buildings).<br \/>\n\u201cIn tough times, it\u2019s vital to pioneer new cost-efficient practices, especially when dealing with the expensive need to maintain the city\u2019s infrastructure,\u201d said Deputy Mayor Edward Skyler.<br \/>\n&#8230;<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/05\/20\/nyregion\/20streets.html\">https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/05\/20\/nyregion\/20streets.html<\/a>oldId.20090520124751726<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By DAVID W. CHEN &#8211; New York Times Imagine narrow European-style roadways shared by pedestrians, cyclists and cars, all traveling at low speeds. Sidewalks made of recycled rubber in different colors under sleek energy-efficient lamps. Mini-islands jutting into the street, topped by trees and landscaping, designed to further slow traffic and add a dash of &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=138286071\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;In the Future, the City\u2019s Streets Are to Behave&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"1","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-138286071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biking-elsewhere"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138286071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=138286071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138286071\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=138286071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=138286071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=138286071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}