I’m at a #vc22 conference on a topic close to my heart: reallocation of public space. It’s an all-star panel, with representatives from Copenhagen and Groningen and other cool cities.
Ok these graphics are a bit over-stylized but it’s surprising that most trips in Copenhagen are still by car and cars still dominate public space.
Groningen has a bike mode share of 66%, which is truly remarkable. Spurred by their traffic circulation plan.
Leaf blowers are the only things propping up the Lawn Industrial Complex. Ban them and the whole thing collapses under its own weight.
Big Lawn has survived thus far on cheap oil, lax regulation, labor exploitation, and a collective delusion that fetishizes the lawn as a symbol of wealth and power.
The Lawn Lobby has sought to build popular support for their cause by promoting leaf blowing as a traditional way of life passed down from one suburban generation to the next.
The metropolitan council of Lyon has launched a €100 million ($116 million) plan—Les Voies Lyonnaises—to build 250km (155 miles) of new or upgraded bike lanes.
This before-and-after rendering shows what an upgrade might look like, with subway-style markings on the pavement.
Remembering how Belltown advocates wanted to convert the Battery Street Tunnel into a below-grade garden but WSDOT crammed it full of viaduct rubble and sealed it up before the idea could get traction.
Predictably, naysayers were fixated on crime. Apparently, if you create space for people, those people are going to do crimes. Whereas, filling every space with cars keeps the criminals away.
Utrecht has a similar street running straight through the center of town. Maybe it’s totally crime-ridden idk.