I lived and worked in NYC back in the 90's and it is a bit disconcerting to see people sitting outside in shirtsleeves in February enjoying the sun. I know that weather is not climate but I left the Big Apple after the Blizzard of 96 to move to Miami Florida. I can remember snow storms in April back in the 80's. Balmy February day just sounds wrong. Still I'd rather have bikes and pedestrian plazas as opposed to private cars in a city space any day.

Sometimes, challenging 'Cities' is as vague as decrying 'Technology'..

We've had cities for millenia. They serve a number of functions, at their varying scales, and represent certain benefits of scale that we don't get from Towns and Villages. They are surely an investment of some of our energy, but this concentration also produces efficiencies not possible in the country. They will have to shift and rescale, many drastically, and some fatally (Vegas?..) But it's a very deeply ingrained part of human society now, and not a product of the Oil Economy.

I have at last, after several months' experience, made up my mind that it is a splendid desert--a domed and steepled solitude, where the stranger is lonely in the midst of a million of his race. A man walks his tedious miles through the same interminable street every day, elbowing his way through a buzzing multitude of men, yet never seeing a familiar face, and never seeing a strange one the second time. He visits a friend once--it is a day's journey--and then stays away from that time forward till that friends cools to a mere acquaintance, and finally to a stranger. So there is little sociability, and consequently, there is little cordiality. Every man seems to feel that he has got the duties of two lifetimes to accomplish in one, and so he rushes, rushes, rushes, and never has time to be companionable--never has any time at his disposal to fool away on matters which do not involve dollars and duty and business.
~Mark Twain 1867

http://www.twainquotes.com/New_York.html

and so, as there will always be cities, there will always be fine folks who have no interest in them, too.

But my wife and I have realized that what we miss the most about our beloved NYC is the hugs. The friends we have there are so affectionate and we connected so well with them, we sometimes wonder how long we'll be able to stay away.

Bob

Cities are huge energy-sinks, there is no getting away from it, it is part of their nature.

The same is true (even more so x2) of Suburbia, and also towns and villages and even many farms (cotton, tobacco, feed lots, etc.).

Denser cities are inherently energy efficient/capita.

BTW, New York City has a unique zero energy potable water source.

Best Hopes for Energy Efficient cities,

Alan

Mew Orleans is still Way too auto dependent, w/ grocery stores miles away, etc. That St. Claude Ave, bridge is a terrifying death trap for bikers and too many drunk or indisciplined drivers, far too many massive SUV's and monstrous 6 wheel pickup trucks all driven many miles over the speed limit.

As for NYC, the DOT is always behind the curve. The biggest problem in NYC is the heavy trucks at all hours and on every street. Non- stop tractor trailer use of Canal Street and Broome and 'Cut thrugh' traffic on BQE between New Jersey and New England. Long haul trucks cross the Verrazano Bridge (no toll) and then cross back into Manhattan and north on Madison Avenue/3d Avenue into the Bronx to avoid tolls.

Bloomberg tried to initiate a per- car servive fee for anyone entering Manhattan w/ a car but that was shot down. The best times be be in NYC was during taxi strikes because 1/3 of traffic would disappear. Also after 9/11 when single occupant vehicles were barred from crossing the East River. A lot of changes can and need to be made.

- Install tolls inbound on Verrazano bridge tolls both way on Holland and Lincoln tunnels for trucks.

- Install tolls on East River crossings - ban single occupant autos at all times.

- No cars at all South of 96th Street in Manhattan during the day. People have been crying out for this one for decades.

- Install electric trolley bus transit lanes on BQE, FDR Drive and West End Avenue.

The entire issue is mired in politics: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/28/nyregion/28transit.html

Residents Demand Relief from Canal Street Trucks

On July 8, more than 100 residents of Tribeca, SoHo, and the West Village attended a meeting with officials from the City's Transportation, Planning, and Police Departments to discuss the growing truck nightmare on Canal Street and in their neighborhoods. Much of the traffic comes from trucks headed from Brooklyn or Long Island to New Jersey via the Holland Tunnel as a way of avoiding the costly toll on the Verrazano Bridge. Angry residents had a whole shopping list of familiar complaints: fatal dangers to pedestrians (especially kids); unhealthy air pollution levels, particularly lung-destroying diesel particulates; noise and vibrations from trucks barreling along their streets; the non-enforcement of rules against oversized trucks; and truck drivers straying from approved routes.

At the meeting, residents, T.A. and elected officials, including Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Councilmember Kathryn Freed, Assemblywoman Deborah Glick and State Senator Tom Duane, denounced the ever-growing Canal Street fiasco and offered a range of solutions, from two-way variable-price tolling on the Verrazano Bridge to new regulations that would limit truck size to a maximum of 33 feet (from 55 feet currently) and stepped-up enforcement of truck routes and size. Representatives from the City provided few answers other than the time honored "we're doing the best we can" and "we'll have to wait and see." T.A. called for an oversized trucks crackdown, and has filed for NYPD's truck enforcement statistics under the Freedom of Information Law.

http://www.transalt.org/files/newsroom/magazine/995OctNov/11canalst.html

There is a long way to go, while attractive, the initiative so far are just scratching the surface of the problem. There is no real leadership and the transit authority is proposing major service cuts, meaning more not less auto traffic into the city.

Yeah you right. NOLA's Old Urbanism looks a lot like the New Urbanism.

I guess that (not entirely) benign neglect has allowed our 19th century, pre-automobile, city to skip the post-war "development" boom and plunge straight into the future.

We live on one of those narrow one-way uptown streets; two corner groceries, restaurants, bars, cleaners, banks, miscellaneous shops (including two costume shops) within a couple of blocks walking. One block from the bus, four blocks from the streetcar. Half mile to Zara's, but closer to Rouse's market. My experience is that it's easy and safe to bicycle anywhere in the city with the exception perhaps of N.O. East, but including the easily traversed St. Claude Ave bridge.

Car speeds on our street are generally far less than the 25 mph limit due to the traffic calming effects of potholes, rough pavement, and S&WB sinkholes. There are several two-way streets with parking on both sides and barely enough room for a single car to pass - fosters cooperation. Our WalkScore = 94.

Other factors creating useful public space include mixed use areas, mixed income housing, small houses close together (lots of doubles for renters), front stoops and porches near the street behind low iron fences and under shade trees. No need for re-claiming -- it's always been there.

Corner stores took a big hit during the flood, but are coming back even in the flooded parts of Central City. Schools improving (from a terrible bottom); would be an urban paradise if we could get more better jobs and reduce the crime and racism.

We have some 28' wide two way streets with parking on both sides. These are "interesting".

All streets are two way for pedestrians and bicyclists often go both ways on one way streets.

Minimum width for ANY modern street is 32' I believe.

Best Hopes for narrow streets,

Alan

BTW, there is a small scale (back of store) decorative tile production and praline candy production within 3.5 blocks. And several artists produce art at nearby homes. Commercial diary & bakery within 7 blocks. The port is a mile away. I agree about mixed use (a half square block sheet metal fabrication plant shut down in the French Quarter about 7 years ago, a loss IMHO).

Bryant park uses some nice Steel Folding Chairs for their Lunch-Crowds.

Baby Steps, Brother. If you're putting out a fire, you might have to start with any old thing that carries water.

Thanks for the refreshing glimpse of reality. It is amusing that we still aren't at the point where autos are purchased based primarily on fuel economy (which would be stage 1) yet the discussion revolves around stage 2, which might arrive in the distant future.

Your certainty about this is understandable, but a little amusing.

That 'Never' can turn on a dime.. and that dime is probably less than a decade away.

I suppose nobody ever did take the rifle out of Charlton's cold, dead hands, and he clings to it still, not that it'll do him much good. And at this point, taking it would just be mean.

What do you expect when the "car culture" and its trapping has been pounded into the heads of children from the time they can learn to read, if not sooner?

Why is it that, in California, the greatest day in a young person's life is not their graduation day from high school, but the day they get their driver's license?

This doesn't happen by accident but rather through relentless advertising, both direct and subliminal. It doesn't happen to nearly the same extent in Europe. Why? Gasoline or diesel costs the equivalent of 5-7 dollars a gallon. The people there accept this because they are educated enough to understand that, in return, they get essentially free health care and six weeks of vacation a year, in addition to a workable public transportation system (did I forget to mention a job?)

Until US citizens recognize that half a billion dollars a day disappears from the economy to pay for imported oil they refine and waste driving SOVs, you are absolutely right--the public will always be behind the curve on this, they will listen to the politician that promises them that their way of life is non-negotiable, and vote for these lizards; the heat will keep being added to the pot until everyone is cooked.

It used to be normall in Holland to bring your kid to school either walking or on a bike (ditance < 1.5 km). Now a days they are brought from the same neighbourhood to the same school by car as "there are so many cars it's dangerous for them to cross the street"

People are crazy...

These are also pre-bicycle streets.

It would be interesting to find the optimum width for pedestrians, bicycles and the occasional small truck (delivering furniture, moving, fire trucks & ambulances "when needed").

My guess, 13' or 14'.

An overlooked point is that every ft2 devoted to the automobile is one less ft2 for people. This automatically places people further apart and helps isolate them (see Phoenix, >50% of area devoted to cars).

Best Hopes,

Alan

We still have a few of all three in New Orleans (forgot to remove them, then tourist carriage rides came into vogue).

However, short range EV trucks may be the preferred solution.

Thus my 13' to 14' wide street width.

Best Hopes for Good Design,

Alan

Lots of horses give a sanitary problem, it is realy good that they will have a hard time competing with biogas and electrical wehicels.