New Visions of 4th Avenue & 9th Street
[nggallery id=”25793″ template=galleryview] A “complete street” is one that “safely accommodate pedestrians, bicyclists, transit, trucks and cars,” says Transportation Alternatives, and we don’t have many of them. So they challenged folks in their competition “Designing the 21st Century Street” to reinvent the corner of 9th Street and 4th Avenue, “a crossing that exemplifies car-first design…
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A “complete street” is one that “safely accommodate pedestrians, bicyclists, transit, trucks and cars,” says Transportation Alternatives, and we don’t have many of them. So they challenged folks in their competition “Designing the 21st Century Street” to reinvent the corner of 9th Street and 4th Avenue, “a crossing that exemplifies car-first design by encouraging speeding and reckless driving while all but ignoring the walking and biking environment.” The result: over 100 submissions from 13 countries, and these three winners. “Shared Space” by Steven Miller of Somerville, MA, with a big ole bike lane and adequate bike parking; “Streets for Everyone” by Rogers Marvel Architects of NYC, which seems to have an express and local lane of traffic, interrupted by a plant-filled boardwalk; and “Streets Come Alive” by team LEVON, Philadelphia, PA, which turns the median strip into a park (notice only one car rumbles down 4th in this picture).
Time will tell, BRG. Time will tell. But I bet it won’t be pretty.
The park is so 80s BRG. Everyone’s done that.
DIBS, first you called me out on my racism and now my homophobia…what next??
Biff, don’t forget the park and subway.
United flight between Hong Kong & Tokyo in 1991…upstairs in big top 747, a Vietnamese real estate agent from San Francisco!!! The real estate agent part keeps it on topic here.
“Two men or women laying on grass”
Forget the blatant homophobia, isn’t this grounds for a public indecency citation? Shouldn’t laying be done in the privacy of one’s own home (and in the bathrooms of certain New York City bars and discreetly on airplanes?)
“Two men or women laying on grass in the middle of 4th ave is impractical.”
But a man and a woman laying on the grass is OK???? Blatant homophobia BRG. Shame on you. 🙂
Obviously, I didn’t learn how to spell in Design School!
What I learned in Desing School…90% of the design projects are never practical in the real world.
Have you seen thesis projects from architecture school? The comments are more like:
What the ef is that?
How the Heck do you….?
Who can live with that?
Is this person for real?
There’s no way, that can be done?
and so on and so on.
Two men or women laying on grass in the middle of 4th ave is impractical.
Ah, you nay-sayers have never been to Urban design school; any of these would get you a A+ grade. Typical academic excess.
I’m intrigued by the “[from] over 13 countries.”…I didn’t realize that 4th Av and 9th St were well-enough known world-wide that one could design a streetscape from afar.
“But when did they invent see-through fruit stands and cars…”
I believe it is all part of our new era of transparency and accountability.