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#urbanism

74 posts68 participants0 posts today
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Jeff Allen

quick map I made about a year ago of Yellowknife showing property tax revenue density

keep on going back to this one as a way to show benefits of denser/central neighbourhoods

wish we had more openly available property tax data like this across Canada

Map of Yellowknife coloured by property tax revenue per km2. The map highlights how the central, denser, downtown area has higher revenue / is more productive on a per area basis.
#maps#gis#qgis
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Ned Yeung

This is what passes for a bus stop in Edmonton. Yes, you have to wait standing in that mud hole or the bus won't stop.

Where we're standing now? That's the only multi-use active transportation path that seems to go anywhere in the west end (and even then, it ends at 163 St when all the businesses are on 170 St and on).

As such, it is a heavily-used path which only becomes unused during a forced "off-season" when maintenance is neglected to the point of making it unusable, and users are forced onto the street where they are often run off the road by aggressive drivers.

The road the cars are driving on? Huge 4-lane road which even during rush hour has mostly empty space but traffic drives so fast and aggressively (with no traffic calming whatsoever), that it is very difficult for active transportation to get in, which they must do (or find a completely different route altogether) during the many long months when the heavily-used MUP is left unusable.

Even though there is SO much empty space on this road, if traffic gets slowed down for a split second (which generally only happens when somebody is turning left, and through traffic passes beside them), the horns come out on FULL BLAST. Tons of aggression and road rage on this street, largely contributed to by the autocentric "stroad" design.

This is a classic example of infrastructure and maintenance designed to force an end of active transportation supposedly by concentrating on automobile traffic, except that this focus on cars gives no actual benefit to them, except to make them feel more privileged.

Note: Despite its looks, this road is more dangerous for the drivers than others. I have seen so many near crashes on it when I used to use it regularly. The road is wide and straight, but that just means people can't get their foot off the gas.

Although they take their anger out on the rest of us, it's the people driving on the road who are most at risk. Driving does NOT make you safer.

#yeg#yegbike#Transit
Replied in thread
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AJ Sadauskas

@tom_andraszek I think we've got a not dissimilar reference point.

For me, its Laisves alėja in Kaunas (in Lithuania).

There's two rows of trees down the middle.

There's park benches under many of those trees.

The generally accepted rule is that you cycle (or skateboard) in that area.

There's a wide pedestrian space either side.

The buildings on either side are around four storeys tall.

You have shops and cafés on the ground floor, with all fresco dining.

You have small offices (doctors, dentists) and apartments on the floors above.

The pedestrianised street runs the entire length of the Kaunas CBD.

It begins in the old town, near Kaunas Castle and the confluence of the Nemunas and Neris Rivers.

It runs around 1.6 kilometres east.

There are trolleybuses running parallel along the streets one block north and one block south.

It would be worthwhile for Australian urban planners to head out to Kaunas just to see this one street.

I guarantee they'd learn a lot about what a pedestrianised space should be.

There's two rows of trees, with the centre corridor typically used by cyclists.
There's a wide pedestrian footpath either side if the trees.
There's a wide pedestrian space either side of the trees in the middle. Buildings are typically around 3 to 4 storeys tall.
Cafés and small shops with outdoor dining line the sides of the street.
#walking#pedestrian#city
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Port Phillip Bicycle Users

Guest speaker at the MAY BUG meeting will be Elliot Fishman, from the Institute for Sensible Transport.  Elliot has written a report for Austroads on Increasing active transport mode share.    

(This talk is re-scheduled from March.)

"Across Australasia, an increasing number of state and local governments have identified the need to reduce car use and increase walking and cycling levels. Despite this interest, transport data shows that there are no widespread or sustained increases in active transport mode share in Australasia. The project principally focuses on interventions to grow active transport and provides coverage of the effectiveness of different intervention types to increase walking and cycling mode share."    

Tuesday 6th May; short BUG meeting at 6.30pm; talk from 7pm.  All welcome. Cora Graves Community Centre 38 Blessington St, St Kilda.

sensibletransport.org.au/proje

A woman in a red scarf and blue coat is riding down a city street on a bike lane, between planter boxes and plastic orange bollards
#cycling#melbourne#urbanism
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Gavin

I feel this is an important video from the good folks at #GCN. When I was blogging about cycling at Cardiff By Bike I was spending more and more time trying to make these points to anyone who will listen/read. Feel free to share with anyone you know in #urbanplanning

Everything You Thought You Knew About Roads is A Lie
youtube.com/watch?v=CVq7XOXkg1 #cycling #urbanism #motoringindustrialcomplex

YouTubeEverything You Thought You Knew About Roads Is A LieBy Global Cycling Network
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David Bailey

The only way to tackle the scourge of the #SUV is to make them expensive and socially unacceptable. No car should be more than 2tonnes in weight or longer and wider than a standard parking space, so increase taxes for vehicles over that. Make owners take an extra test to drive them, and limit them to 60mph with limited acceleration rates.

#Urbanism #Driving
theguardian.com/commentisfree/

The Guardian · The Observer view on SUVs: they are too dangerous and too big, their drivers should be made to payBy Observer editorial
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AJ Sadauskas

Parramatta is set to get a revitalised arts complex, with the plan now open for public consultation.

From ArchitectureAU:

"The $188 million proposal for the redevelopment of Parramatta’s Riverside Theatres is currently on exhibition on the NSW government’s state significant applications portal, with the public invited to have their say on the designs.

"The revitalised building will feature a collection of performance spaces, including a new 1,500-seat Broadway-style Lyric Theatre replacing the building’s existing Lennox and Raffertys Theatres, a refurbished 760-seat Playhouse Theatre, a 341-seat Black Box Drama Theatre and a 116-seat Studio Cinema. A new bar and cafe is also situated on the river side of the proposed building."

architectureau.com/articles/de

The current building opened in 1988, and it's certainly showing its age.

Current venues in the complex include the 761-seat Riverside Theatre, the 213-seat Lennox Theatre, and the 88-seat Rafferty's Theatre.

So definitely a well-needed upgrade.

You can have your say on the project on the NSW Planning Portal here: planningportal.nsw.gov.au/majo

ArchitectureAuDesign for Parramatta Riverside Theatres on exhibitionThe refurbished theatre is envisioned as the centrepiece of Parramatta’s cultural precinct, intended to honour the city’s “rich cultural heritage” and create “a harmonious blend of past and present.”
#art#arts#parramatta
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