city streets: liveable or killable
DESCRIPTION
Livability is a concept that has enjoyed tremendous popularity in recent years. The Federal Highway Administration established a formal “Livability Initiative” and in 2010, published a guidebook to educate transportation planning and design professionals. So how are we doing? Are we improving the health and safety of the traveling public? Even with the enormous amount of data showing direct and tangible connections between street design and public health and safety (i.e. livability), bad design continues to show itself on a regular basis on our street networks. If good design promotes livability, then bad design must promote the opposite of livability…killability. We can do better! Help put an end to dangerous design and save some lives! This presentation was originally delivered during the 2014 National Planning Conference in Atlanta, GA.TRANSCRIPT
livable or
city streets
killable #livable
designed for people to live long and prosper
#killable most of the streets you see around you
know the
story
Illustrations: public domain
Illustrations: public domain
We’ve known that high-speed motoring conflicted with livable streets for 100+ years.
And we weren’t ashamed to point out the obvious!
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High-speed city streets are killable.
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by accident
The obvious solution…
Engineering News-Record, 1922
…lies only in a radical revision of our conception of what a city street is for.
The obvious solution…
Engineering News-Record, 1922
…lies only in a radical revision of our conception of what a city street is for.
In other words, the experts changed the consensus
propaganda
the
of Futurama seductive story
the
of Futurama seductive story
More than a simple model, the marketing campaign promised
happiness safety
beauty
of modern streets.
Behold
Professionals call these conditions Level of Service A.
Who would argue with an A?! Common sense has been outsmarted…regulated away.
When walking, wear headlights and a car
as protection.
tell a new story
Seth Godin, All Marketers Are Liars
You cannot succeed if you try to tell
the competition’s story better than they can.
planners are marketers marketers are storytellers
Don’t be trapped by
credit: public domain
of other storytellers
Image Comics, copyrights, and you.
Image Comics, copyrights, and you.
Image formed to give artists freedom to tell any story with the
characters they created.
Follow their lead – tell your own stories!
preserves life, celebrates creativity,
and restores freedom.
Take a picture of your friends.
Use it to tell a story. E
xam
ple Bike commuters coexisting
with motorized traffic, thanks to good street design.
Think about the influence of Jane Jacobs. Did she use science to inspire?
No.
She told compelling stories
Don’t settle for reciting facts about calories burned and other perks of bike riding…
…use the data to tell an interesting story.
about real people.
Professionals spend
building consensus.
Consensus is often built around the status quo.
considerable time
“I want to the status quo.
Where should I begin?”
Your expertise as a can be translated into characters and plot
of a compelling story.
Blog about it.
Redemption
Redemption Create protected bike lanes.
Build some roundabouts. Put your streets on a diet.
Save some lives working with engineers!
question everything Not every rule is bad…
…but many of them are.
Civil disobedience is a context sensitive solution.
How will you reclaim your streets? What stories will you tell?
Reclaim your streets. Tell stories.
Let the engineers have their high-tech measures of effectiveness.
You can’t interact with people speeding by at 45 mph.
flirtability factor
be disruptive
