Results tagged “pedestrians”

Brittney Gilbert at Eye On Blogs brings our attention to what could be our new favorite blog, The Pedestrianist. More than any driver or cyclist, the delicate pedestrian is the single most maligned minority in the history of the world, ever. (Examples: Where are our energizer stations? Where are our street closures? Where are our coalitions? Where in the hell are our biergartens with porta-potties?) Apparently, jaywalkers make streets safer. We're living speed bumps, if you will. The Pedestrianist says:

Remember that whole idea about shutting part of Market Street to vehicle traffic, kind of like what they've done with sections of Broadway in New York City? Well, it's coming to pass in a pilot program, at least for a six-week test run, starting on September 29th. Vehicles traveling eastbound (downtown) on Market will be encouraged to turn right on 10th Street, and then forced to turn right on 8th. Any cars that get onto Market Street via 7th will be forced to turn right on 6th. (See map here.) While comparisons have been made to Las Ramblas in Barcelona or NYC's new traffic-free plazas along Broadway, the difference here is the compromise which will still allow bus, taxi and delivery vehicle traffic down Market -- forcing only unwitting East-Bayers and tourists who don't already know to avoid Market Street to drive in endless, crazy-making circles.

A Honda hybrid, it seems, "[c]lobbered a few pedestrians and stopped the N for a bit in both directions" this morning at 7th Avenue and Irving.

Walk Score, a site that tells you just how "walkable" your city or hood is, ranked San Francisco the top spot for those of us who get by on foot exclusively. Eating San Francisco's dust is 2. New York, NY; 3. Boston, MA; 4. Chicago, IL; 5. Philadelphia, PA; 6. Seattle, WA; 7. Washington D.C.; 8. Long Beach, CA; 9. Los Angeles, CA; and 10. Portland, OR. (Chinatown came in as the number one hood for walking.) On a score from 0-100, WalkScore decides which city is deemed "Walkers' Paradise," "Very Walkable,""Somewhat Walkable," and "Car-Dependent" like this: they "calculate the walkability of an address by locating nearby stores, restaurants, schools, parks, etc. Walk Score measures how easy it is to live a car-lite lifestyle—not how pretty the area is for walking." The site also features helpful maps and other pro-pedestrian propaganda. Be sure to check it out. [via Curbed]