IN 1919, the car hadn’t yet conquered West 57th Street in Manhattan. Together, the sidewalks for the pedestrians were still significantly wider than the roadway, and the modern detritus of the traffic engineer is nowhere in sight.
West 57th Street in 1919, looking east towards 7th Avenue
MCNY image from “West 57th’s Hodgepodge Block,” by Christopher Gray
West 57th Street today, looking east towards 7th Avenue
Also see the unbuilt Winslow Homer Walk. You can download a PDF about Homer Walk here.
John Massengale was interviewed on “Everything Is Broken” on April 22:
The YouTube video above includes a slide show. Some of the slides are closely correlated with the interview, while others are only loosely connected. Click here for a higher resolution version of the video.
The video below only has an image of the cover and the audio track.
On May 27, Victor Dover will be on Baltimore Public Radio, WYPR.
“Everything Is Broken,” WUSB
Jim Lynch, “Streets!,” Different Wavelengths
Check out Victor Dover and other folks from Dover, Kohl & Partners in this new video about the Hometown Plan for the City of South Miami. The Hometown Plan was initiated over 16 years ago and continues to be actively implemented today. New streetscape improvements and infill buildings have created a walkable, urban downtown. Filmed by Nestor Arguello. Directed by Jason King, Dover, Kohl & Partners.
Westminster Street in Providence, Rhode Island
We then crossed the College Street Bridge to enter downtown, and found ourselves where Weybosset and Westminster merge to form what Dr. Street said could be a sumptuous civic plaza. It is a sumptuous civic plaza, replied this doctor, and a civic dance plaza on WaterFire nights. He said it was still too wide. He noted that Nantucket’s Main Street has a horse fountain at one end and a Civil War monument at the other, around both of which cars must maneuver. He recommended an obelisk at Westminster and Weybosset to slow the cars entering downtown. What a great idea!
Dr. Street referred often to a new “paradigm shift” for making cities less car-centric. Vision Zero was conceived by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has called for zero traffic deaths, including pedestrians, in the city. These are not unpreventable “accidents” and no level is acceptable. By focusing on safety, politicians who otherwise care nothing for the niceties of good streets will feel obliged to promote the goals of the slow-streets movement.
Benefit Street in Providence, Rhode Island, closed for a RISD street fair. In most American cities it’s better to sometimes close streets for special events than to create Pedestrian Streets that are always closed to traffic.
David Brussat, “The Secret to Making Great Streets,” Providence Journal
John Massengale, “Mr. Manners Goes To MOMA: The Etiquette of Deconstructivism,” Inland Architect (September/October 1988): 66-69
Main Street, Nantucket, Massachusetts, under a canopy of Elm trees
On March 14, 2014, John Massengale and Victor Dover delivered this PowerPoint presentation about Vision Zero to a roundtable organized by the Regional Plan Association.
Victor Dover and co-author John Massengale have been doing a lot of traveling to talk about their recently released book Street Design: The Secret to Great Cities and Towns. Recent lectures have taken place in Delray Beach, Florida; The University of Texas at San Antonio; CNU-FL in Sarasota, Florida; Florida International University in Miami, Florida; and the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia.
Additional lectures are scheduled in Coral Gables, Florida; Winter Park, Florida; Glendale, Colorado; and Atlanta, Georgia. The Form-Based Codes Institute is also hosting a webinar titled Street Design for Form-Based Codes on Tuesday, March 11, 2014 featuring Victor Dover, John Massengale and Richard A. Hall. Learn more about the webinar and register today.
UTSA Downtown Campus
Related News: CoA lecture series begins with urban design experts John Massengale and Victor Dover
San Antonio News Express:“UTSA hosting street design experts”—Interview with Ben Olivo
John Massengale and Victor Dover, authors of “Street Design: The Secret to Great Cities and Towns,” will talk about the qualities of excellent streets at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 29 at UTSA downtown campus as part of the College of Architecture’s 2014 Spring Lecture Series. Click here for details.
