Archive for 2012

Streets are for everyone.  They are where city life happens and where people come together. Streets are also a significant source of economic activity.  They are often where you shop, work, dine or connect to other daily services.  In fact, the best streets in the world are those where commerce and people collide.  Yet too often, many Atlanta streets are designed and built almost exclusively for cars – as places unsafe and uncomfortable for people socializing, shopping, walking, biking or taking public transportation.

On May 20^th, Atlanta Streets Alive (ASA) will be taking on the question ‘how do you make a street vibrant, safe and inviting for everyone.’  In the case of ASA, it is as simple as closing North Highland to cars and other vehicles, and opening it up to people walking or riding a bike.  This temporary gesture will let people experience the street in a different way, invite them to be more active and to socialize with friends, family and neighbors.

But how do you instill lasting change to streets?  North Highland can’t, and shouldn’t, always be closed to cars.  But it could definitely be more accommodating to all forms of transportation, the businesses along the street and the adjacent neighborhoods.

One new approach to community improvement, called Tactical Urbanism, is giving people the opportunity to tackle this question in an approachable, temporary way. The basic premise of Tactical Urbanism is that short-term, small-scale, and deliberate actions can lead to long-term, positive changes in a community.  It is a community invitation to re-imagine places for people by testing ideas to create positive community change and drive economic development through community improvements.

A collective group of local professional organizations, including CNU Atlanta, Georgia Conservancy and Georgia ASLA, wants to challenge Atlanta to re-think how streets in Atlanta are used and designed for everyone.  How can streets support all modes of transportation and be sources of economic activity?

The group will be using the section of North Highland, from North Avenue to Ponce de Leon, to temporarily illustrate what changes might look like.  In addition to temporarily installing some of the recommendations from the recent bicycle road safety audit, the group will be repurposing on-street parking spaces as temporary parks and working with local businesses to create pop-up cafes or outdoor shopping spaces.

Additionally, the group is hosting a pop-up city hall to collect ideas and have conversations about how to improve the safety, comfort and vibrancy of Atlanta streets.  Stop by, share your thoughts and learn about ways to improve the streets that define the city.

Beyond the Tactical Urbanism installations, the collective is also inviting businesses and neighborhoods to get involved during Atlanta Streets Alive with their own Tactical Urbanism inventions.  To get everyone started, the group has developed two design templates that can be used as shareware for the event.  One of the concepts is a pop-up café and the other is a parklet.  Both concepts are being used in other communities to create additional street space for people, support local businesses and create safer conditions for travelers too.

ASA_concept_parklet

ASA_concept_popupcafe

Use these guides to create your owner Tactical Urbanism installation, and the group looks forward to seeing everyone in the street May 20.

Be sure to catch a Creative Loafing next week that includes this Atlanta Streets Alive Passport as an insert.

Get ready! More activities can apply online by Monday, May 14th to be included on the final map, that will be distributed the day of the event. Go to AtlantaStreetsAlive.com/activity  (or just click on the tab above that reads “Organize an Activity”)

StoryCorps is partnering with Public Broadcasting Atlanta to record, preserve, and share the stories of communities in Atlanta. Our mission is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives.

We will have storytelling activities for families, in which we encourage people to tell their story and start a conversation with a loved one.

When can I hear StoryCorps on WABE 90.1fm? 

• Tuesday during Morning Edition at 7:35am
• Tuesday during City Café between 12-1pm
• Friday during Morning Edition between 6-7am and 8-9am

The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation hosted a Speaker Series on March 29, 2012, featuring Nicole Freedman, Director of Boston Bikes, also known as the Bike Czar. Nicole shared her story of how in 2007, Boston was ranked the worst city for biking, and now it stands among the top 12 BEST cities in the country for biking.

Her first step as Director of Boston Bikes was to understand her audience. As a professional cyclist, she knew her audience were not the racers. Her audience was her mom, who lived out in the suburbs and occasionally ventured out on bike, but never in the city because it was “too dangerous” to ride in the city. Nicole’s mission became to change the culture, and to make the city a safer place for people to bike.

She offered five tips:  Just start already, Focus, Plagerize (copy other city best practices), Engage community and build a team, and go after high quality projects that become bright spots for long-term sustainability. Her goal was to hit Bronze level Bicycle Friendly City and she surpassed it by helping Boston become Silver status in just three years. Boston is one of only a handful of East Coast cities with Silver and higher status.

Overall, they noticed over those three years a 50% increase in ridership, equivalent to 15-20,000 new bike trips each year. They introduced NewBalance Hubway, a bike share program that cost only $5.7 million, half of which was raised through public grants, and the other half through private sponsorships, and advertising. The total rides on Hubway equal 140,000 trips, with 3750 members. And it has transformed the culture within Boston.

Biking is now considered the 4th largest public transit system in Boston. The number one reason why people ride is because it’s the fastest way to get around the city. Yet the next three reasons are right up there with the first, including fun/enjoyment, environment and health & fitness. Over 11% of bike rides replaced motor vehicle trips, and 39% of trips were used in conjunction with other public transportation.

Biking can also provide economic benefits to local businesses. On average 29% of bike trips in Boston, people spent money, an average of $83 a trip! This shows again how biking supports local businesses. The number of bike industry businesses grew by 12 companies offering services from bike shops, repair shops to engineering firms.

Bringing on a bike share program instigated several other public programs such as better wayfinding for bikers, better roads, more bike lanes and even helmet vending machines to increase the number of riders wearing a helmet by making it low cost and convenient to find.

And while in the beginning these bike lanes may have not connected, they eventually did and the network plan is already in action. It focuses more on low-stress environments, where more residents will feel safer riding. If you poll any cyclist, from the beginner to the advanced and professional, ALL prefer riding on a protected path. It feels safer to ride further away from car traffic and more cyclists enjoy their ride. Boston’s plan is to grow from its current 50 miles of bike lane to 417 miles.

Boston also has a community bike program, where 1,088 bikes were donated and given in groups (to increase the social aspect of riding) and over 7,773 youth were instructed on how to ride safely. This reached the critical mass of 10% of the kids in Boston.  A poll taken a few months after the kids received the bikes and of them 81% of the kids still bike everyday or whenever possible. And 30% said they felt and looked healthier.

The future is looking bright as Boston continues working on its plans to become platinum bicycle friendly city. They plan to expand the bike share program, finish the network plan, add cycletracks, increase helmet use, innovate with parking and maintain everything they have built thus far.

Key learnings from the panel discussion included the economic benefit of bicycle infrastructure. Nicole mentioned a 9 to 1 return on investment for building paths. Housing prices jump an average of 25% when located closer to bike paths. And we learned that the best practices from the most successful cities say that having the mayor be the champion behind making the city more bike friendly is an absolute must. Also, use media as often as possible in a fun, popular and positive way to encourage more people to ride.

What a superb event and thank you to the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, the Arthur Blank Family Foundation, City of Atlanta, City of Decatur, viaCycle, National Association of City Transportation Officials.