Posted on 10/29/2014 1:28:11 PM PDT by Lorianne
Chicago is about to take a gamble on a four-block stretch of town where drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians are all equal. It's not as crazy as it sounds.
Imagine a street with no sidewalks, no crosswalks, no curbs, no lane markings--basically no real distinctions between pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers at all. At first glance, that might seem like an extraordinarily unsafe street. But the city of Chicago is betting on its success as it redesigns a four-block stretch of its uptown.
The New York Times editorial board recently called the concept of shared streets a radical experiment for the city of Chicago, which plans to start construction on its first one on Argyle Street early next year. Yet the philosophy behind them--that by removing common street control features, street users will actually act less recklessly and negotiate space through eye-contact---is actually not all that new. Shared streets have been built and shown to be effective in reducing accidents in London already. In the U.S., shared streets exist in Seattle, Washington and Buffalo, New York.
(Excerpt) Read more at fastcoexist.com ...
This would not work every where. But the North Side of Chicago is made up of lots of different neighborhoods, many of which have their own distinct character. The neighborhoods tend to be made of up high rise apartments/condos along the lake, with older town homes a few blocks in. There is also a lot of street level retail — restaurants, grocery stores, etc. A lot of people who live in these neighborhoods do not get around primarily by car.
Yes, basically, and the idiot Alderman thinks this will increase traffic to the local businesses!
Not if all the drivers learn to circumvent that area it won’t.
“vibrant”
I appreciate the idea to try something different on a limited scale in a major city. It could very well be that we are overly-regulated in the way of travel in those parts.
Sounds like it’ll make driveby shooting a WHOLE lot easier!
This is your AOT-This is your AOT on crack
By gorry someone else knows the official point system.
This is an anti-automobile movement. It’s part of the degrowth philosophy.
Great video. The only fault compared to the Chicago plan is that the street is about six lanes wide and most traffic is moving at footspeed 3-3.5 mph, perhaps as fast as 4-6 mph gauging the relative speeds.
Tinted windows have made eye contact nearly impossible for some time now ...
Tinted windows have made eye contact nearly impossible for some time now ...
Anti Automobile...Anti Liberty....Anti “Common” Sense
Just astonishing, this circuitous route to serfdom they have planned for us.
Cook County Liberals are an especially virulent type.
Witness one ‘barack hussein obama”..late of Chicago
Here's how a ride on the New York subway looked in 1905, when the subway was only seven months old:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J10-aYVG6HY
It's interesting that the subway ride looked pretty much the way it would look today, except for the fancy clothes (towards the end of the video) and the lack of people touching glowing objects in their hands, whereas the San Fran drive looked totally different than today.
Would that he were late.
the late....not exactly Great Barack Obama..
I wonder if that wacky deaf “signer” guy would show up at obies funeral?
Boston’s Green Line looks pretty much like that NYC subway stretch.
A slightly more rounded “style”, both the cars and the architecturally, iirc. Some tight, and slow curves, too.
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