Category Archives: Pedestrian Observations

Pedestrian Observations from Central London

Posted on 2011/09/26 by

As I got off the Underground, I was greeted by a fenced roadway without easy crossings. I found the way around a roundabout and started to walk toward the hotel where I was to meet my family, on the wrong … Continue reading →

Posted in Pedestrian Observations, Urban Design, Urbanism | 33 Comments

Pedestrian Observations from Barbados: Followup to Caribbean Car Ownership

Posted on 2011/08/31 by

The biggest criticism I’ve gotten in comments to Matt Yglesias’s link to my previous post was about my comparison of Puerto Rico’s car ownership with that of neighboring middle-income Caribbean nations. Multiple people claimed that Puerto Rico is much larger … Continue reading →

Posted in Cars, Pedestrian Observations, Transportation, Urbanism | 13 Comments

Quick Note: Safe Streets, Safe Cities

Posted on 2011/06/15 by

Everyone should go read Jan Gehl’s post on Streetsblog about good urban design, excerpted from his book Cities for People. I have nothing to add, except to underline one part that’s often underrated among urbanists: the role of parked cars … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel, New York, Pedestrian Observations, Urban Design, Urbanism | 6 Comments

Pedestrian Observations from Providence in Summer

Posted on 2011/06/03 by

I’d only visited Providence once, for two hours in the dead of winter, and found the downtown/mall area dreary. I just visited twice again to look at apartments, and saw much better. Providence’s downtown is still dominated by single-use office … Continue reading →

Posted in Pedestrian Observations, Providence, Urbanism | 1 Comment

Little Things That Matter: Stoplight Phasing

Posted on 2011/05/31 by

In Manhattan, most intersections have two stoplight phases: one permitting all north-south traffic, and one permitting all east-west traffic. Each phase lasts about 45 seconds, ensuring that pedestrians can cross even the widest avenues in one go with time to … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel, New York, Pedestrian Observations, Urban Design, Urbanism | 6 Comments

Pedestrian Observations from Athens, GA

Posted on 2011/05/25 by

I’m currently at a conference at UGA, located in a town that clearly tries to be walkable, and for the most part fails: for example, it has bike lanes on high-speed arterials and unwalkable streets with share the road signs. … Continue reading →

Posted in Pedestrian Observations, Urbanism | 11 Comments