Residents of all ages, electeds and planner-about-town Jan Gehl gathered at PS 87 last Thursday to mark the launch of "Blueprint for the Upper West Side: A Roadmap for Truly Livable Streets." A year-long community-based project of the Upper West Side Streets Renaissance campaign, the Blueprint [PDF], as its name implies, offers a detailed vision of street designs intended to improve safety, access and mobility for the car-free majority. Streetfilms' Robin Urban Smith was there and filed this report.

Streets designed for safe, accessible, and equitable use. That is the vision of the "Blueprint for the Upper West Side: A Roadmap for Truly Livable Streets," to be unveiled tonight by the Upper West Side Streets Renaissance Campaign. The product of one year of community-driven planning, in consultation with urbanist legends Jan Gehl and Donald Shoup, the 51-page Blueprint [PDF] is an expansive neighborhood-wide plan that would employ many livable streets concepts already in use by NYC DOT. 

Proposals include:

• Separated bike lanes and bike boxes on Broadway, Amsterdam and Columbus
  
• Bollard-protected pedestrian bulb-outs
  
• Leading Pedestrian Intervals
• Curb extensions to slow auto traffic and allow for garbage pick-up
• Bus bulbs with bike parking 
• Chicanes with reverse-angle parking on cross streets

The Blueprint was composed from input gathered via neighborhood surveys and citizen workshops in a community where drivers account for 10 percent of commutes but absorb 228 times more street space per capita, and where over 5,000 pedestrians and cyclists were injured or killed between 1995 and 2005.

Gehl will be on hand for tonight's reveal, as he was at the project's inception last November. The event is free and open to the public.

Where: P.S. 87, 160 W. 78th St. between Amsterdam and Columbus

When: 6:30 p.m.

RSVP here

It could have been just another gathering of urban idealists, agreeing with each other about how great it would be to have more public space for people, and less for cars.

Except last night's NYC Streets Renaissance event, "A New Vision for the Upper West Side," featured renowned Danish planner Jan Gehl -- who, as has been mentioned a time or two on Streetsblog, has been hired by the city to help bring to life the long-held wishes of New Yorkers who want their streets to be welcoming communal destinations, or, at least, something more than loud, dirty, traffic-choked motoring facilities.

After introductions by Transportation Alternatives' Paul Steely White, The Open Planning Project's Mark Gorton and Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, Gehl joked that he was not yet at liberty to discuss his analysis of New York City streets, specific recommendations or much of anything else. Despite the warning, he teased the capacity crowd at the Jewish Community Center with vignettes of what the city could look like in the near and not-too-distant future. Ten years from now, Gehl said, New York could compete with Copenhagen, where nearly 40 percent of commuters travel by bike, for the crown of world's bike-friendliest city.

Whereas pedestrians now spend up to 25 percent of their walking time waiting on signal changes, Gehl sees a city where a presently accepted nod to auto supremacy like the button-activated walk light ("an application to cross the street," as he calls it) becomes an outmoded relic. Gehl's New York is one of flourishing street trees, attractive and functional street furniture, dedicated bus lanes, local outdoor art, complementary lighting, relaxed pedestrians and so many cyclists that the city will need to widen bike lanes to make room.

Specifically, Gehl looks to have big plans in the works for Broadway between Columbus Circle and the Battery. He also spent a bit of time discussing Fordham Road in the Bronx and Main Street in Flushing, noting that pedestrian volumes on these beleaguered outer borough thoroughfares are comparable to Times Square and some of the world's busiest urban promenades.

Gehl said his team was excited by New York City's wide streets and avenues, as they provide the space to easily accommodate wider sidewalks and new kinds of bus and bike lanes. The key, he said, is supply and demand; while cars will fill whatever space you give them, on-street or off, reducing auto capacity by even a small percentage would make a big difference to other users.

According to Gehl, the top priority for any city looking to humanize its infrastructure is to change the way citizens view the purpose and function of the city itself.

"New York has become very much a 'How to get from A to B' city," Gehl said. "It is not a law of nature that you have this much traffic."

Photos: Jonathan Barkey 

A standing room-only crowd turned out for last night's Upper West Side Streets Renaissance event with Danish urban designer Jan Gehl and DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. All in all, it was an inspiring night and we'll have a more detailed write-up later today. Though Gehl wasn't allowed to get too specific about the work he is doing for the city, reading between the lines of his presentation, it was apparent that he is set to present some pretty groundbreaking ideas to Mayor Bloomberg. Word has it, Gehl is having lunch with the Mayor today. Hopefully the Mayor will be inspired too. 

Clarence Eckerson has already produced a three-minute StreetFilms wrap up which, frankly, is also inspiring being as how I know for a fact that he didn't get home last night until around midnight and he had quite a few beers in him.

Additionally, the staff at Transportation Alternatives and Open Planning Project deserve a lot of praise. They did a great job preparing materials and organizing the event.

Speaking of which, have you had a chance to play with the new NYC Streets web site? It's still in beta and there are lots of cool features yet to be installed. But pretty soon you'll be able to use this web site to launch your own Livable Streets project. You'll find a variety of tools, resources and other people to help you make changes in your own community and neighborhood.

If you're thinking about coming to tonight's Upper West Side workshop with Jan Gehl but you are having trouble picturing what a "Streets Renaissance" might look like, the video above was made for you. It consists of a series of photo simulations produced by New York City Streets Renaissance Creative Director Carly Clark.

Whipped into a StreetFilm by Clarence Eckerson and set to some bumpin' electronic dance music, the photo sims seek to answer questions like: What if Amsterdam Avenue were a "complete street" rather than a 5-lane highway, or a stretch of Broadway were turned over to pedestrians, or a neighborhood street were designed to accommodate community life rather than traffic throughput and automobile storage? Watch out. By the end of this one minute video you might be dancing.

You can find three more short Upper West Side StreetFilms and a bit more of Carly's photo sim work here:

• Redesigning Amsterdam Avenue for People Rather Than Speeding Traffic (1:03)
  
• The Perverse Allocation of Streets Space on the Upper West Side (1:24)
• Is SUV Storage the Best Use of Upper West Side Street Space? (1:02)
  

As we lead up to next Tuesday's big Upper West Side Streets Renaissance workshop with Jan Gehl (have you submitted your RSVP yet?) here is another StreetFilm delving in to the kinds of issues we hope to be talking about.

In this segment, Upper West Siders Mark Gorton and Lisa Sladkus briefly examine just how much of our city's valuable and limited public space has been dedicated to the storage and movement of motor vehicles and how diminished pedestrian spaces impact our sense of community.

Summing it up in terms that even the simplest hedge fund manager would understand, Gorton says, "We have a perverse allocation of public space on the Upper West Side and it needs to be changed."

It doesn't have to be this way, folks. Come out on Tuesday and work with your neighbors to envision and shape a new direction for New York City's streets and public spaces:

Tuesday, November 6th, 2007
The Jewish Community Center
334 Amsterdam Avenue at West 76th Street
5:30–7:00 Opening Reception
7:00–8:30 Presentation and Workshop

In the first of many shorts we will present over consecutive days, The Open Planning Project's Executive Director Mark Gorton tours the streets of the Upper West Side with neighbor Lisa Sladkus pointing out problems in advance of the November 6 Streets Renaissance Workshop with Jan Gehl. Today's topic is: Double Parking.

Parking policy is one of the biggest challenges that faces New York City and the rest of the U.S. In this related StreetFilm, Donald Shoup explains how responsible pricing can solve the woes of double parking and pollution, while raising revenues that can be re-invested in communities.

A Workshop With Jan Gehl, the World's Foremost Urban Designer
Tuesday, November 6th, 2007, 5:30-7:00 pm
The Jewish Community Center
334 Amsterdam Avenue at West 76th Street
Opening Reception, 7:00-8:30 Presentation

DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan will be there too. Admission is free. Seating is very limited and RSVP is required.

Over 200 Upper West Siders turned out last night to tell the DOT what they think of street conditions in their neighborhood.

Held at John Jay College Auditorium on 10th Avenue and 58th Street, the premiere "listening session" of the West Side Transportation Study attracted "one of the larger turnouts" for a kickoff meeting, said moderator Arnold Bloch, of DOT consultants Howard/Stein-Hudson Associates. Covering West 55th to 86th Streets from Central Park West to the Hudson, the study aims to assess existing and future conditions through 2016, and to "develop short term, medium term, and long term improvement measures in consultation with stakeholders."

Such abstractions were not what at least one resident had in mind. As Bloch outlined the night's agenda -- the crowd would be dispersed into groups for "breakout sessions," which would consist of even smaller groups discussing a particular street use issue -- an elderly woman said she had expected some direct face time with DOT. Once she was assured that her specific concerns could be addressed by one of the many DOT personnel on hand, and after obligatory appearances by elected officials (including Borough President Scott Stringer and Council Member Gale Brewer, who helped bring about the study), attendees were shuffled off to different rooms.

There were about 40 people in my group, the majority of them in their fifties or older. At least one was in a wheelchair, and one was sight-impaired. Our Howard/Stein-Hudson moderator explained that street use issues would be lumped into five discussion topics: congestion, curb space, safety, "travel challenges," and quality of life. As we were about to be broken up into groups (one for each topic), an elderly lady -- possibly the same one from the auditorium, but I don't think so -- incited a mini-revolt, insisting it would be better if DOT staff could hear each citizen out individually. This led to a bit of a clamor before our moderator convinced everyone that the breakout session method was the best way to have everyone's comments incorporated into the study.

I listened in on group discussions around the room. Here's some of what was on people's minds:

• intrusion of newsracks, phone booths, parking meters and other "sidewalk furniture"
• bike lanes (need more)
• jaywalking pedestrians (need fewer)
• staggering shift changes for cab drivers
• ADA compliance by the city, including disabled access to sidewalks, crosswalks and buses
• better sidewalk illumination
• signage at every intersection
• clearly indicated building numbers on all buildings
  
• noise from garbage trucks, fire trucks, buses and motorcycles
  
• pollution from buses
• horn-honking
  
• "no one knows what a fire lane is" anymore
  
• dominance of construction scaffolding
• drivers should leave addresses and phone numbers in car windows
• controlled truck entrances into Manhattan
  
• no SUV tax breaks
• parking for 100 percent of residents in new construction projects
  
• park-and-ride lots outside of Midtown, or in New Jersey
  
• angled parking on one side of residential streets to cut own on double-parking
  
• bike riding on sidewalks
• congestion
• community board participation in congestion pricing
• study should extend to 96th Street
  
• law enforcement
  
• are police overworked?
  
• abuse of parking placards by press, police and other government employees
  
• "One of the most wonderful things that could happen in this city is if the police actually obeyed the law."

According to study literature, representatives from DOT, City Planning, the NYC Economic Development Corporation, NYC Transit, MTA and the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council will comprise a technical advisory committee to help analyze area demographics; land use and zoning; auto traffic; pedestrian and bike volumes; five-year crash data; parking; transit; and commercial truck movement -- all of which will be used to formulate "improvement packages" for the study's final report.

Those who missed the meeting may submit comments here.

Streetsblog would like to hear from readers who attended. What were your impressions?

Do you have thoughts about improving the bicycle, pedestrian and transportation environment on the Upper West Side? In conjunction with Councilmember Gale Brewer, the Department of Transportation would like to hear your thoughts, concerns and ideas regarding transportation issues from West 55th to 86th Streets (PDF).

From the DOT:
The New York City Department of Transportation is conducting a traffic and transportation study for the area bounded by West 55th Street, West 86th Street, Central Park West and Twelfth Avenue/Henry Hudson Parkway in the Borough of Manhattan.

The study was initiated in response to community concerns over the growth in major real estate developments and traffic congestion. The study will assess existing traffic and transportation conditions in the study area and project how future land uses may generate new trips and affect levels of congestion in the study area. Community input will be an integral part of the assessment process. After the study we will work with the community to produce recommendations to improve traffic flow and safety along corridors and at intersections, reduce congestion and improve access to local destinations.