http://www.thestar.com/GTA/Columnist/article/624814
Taking the pedestrian point of view
NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION PHOTOS BEFORE (left): Pearl Street Triangle in Brooklyn served as a parking lot before New York Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan got hold of it in 2007. AFTER: With the addition of a lot of green paint, chairs, tables, umbrellas and heavy-duty planters, the triangle was transformed into a tranquil plaza.
Christopher Hume
Even by the standards of the City That Never Sleeps, New York Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan is a woman in a hurry.
Under her leadership, new public plazas and squares have appeared in two or three weeks, unheard of in these parts.
When nothing else is available, she will paint a street green, add a few large planters and bring in the chairs and tables.
It may sound like
trompe l'oeil planning, but as it turns out, what you see is what you get. If it looks like public space, it
is public space.
On a quick trip to Toronto this month, the commissioner shared her secrets with local politicians and planners, who could only shake their heads in disbelief. It helps that she reports directly to the mayor and that he, Michael Bloomberg, is committed to doing what's best for the city. It also helps that New York, a metropolis of more than 8 million, is divided into 59 areas, each with its own local council.
And unlike her opposite numbers here in Ontario, Sadik-Khan insists the crucial task is to get people out of cars, and in so doing improve quality of life, even for drivers.
"When you see the city through the windshield of a car you see one thing," she says. "When you see it from a pedestrian point of view, you see it in different ways. Then it becomes clear our cities aren't working."
Sadik-Khan's prescription is more – and better – public space: "When you invest in public space, you see tremendous benefits."
She points to Bryant Park, a historic midtown oasis that deteriorated to the point where it was dangerous. After a massive rehabilitation program that began in the late 1980s, it has become one of Manhattan's most beloved green spaces. According to Sadik-Khan, real estate around the park now brings a premium of 225 per cent.
The same phenomenon has been observed in cities as disparate as Glasgow, Copenhagen and Shanghai. In Toronto, the stumbling point has always been a culture that devalues the public realm, a lack of political will and a recalcitrant municipal bureaucracy.
The answer, says Sadik-Khan, is the pilot project.
"People are more willing to change if they know it's not permanent," she explains.
"The public needs to see things right away," she says. "We have the vision in New York and we are able to implement that vision."
Consider the case of Pearl Street Triangle, which occupies what was previously an asphalted road. The space of the park was painted green, with a "curb" outlined in white. Add a few heavy-duty planters, some tables, chairs and umbrellas and, voila, instant plaza.
It doesn't take long for people to colonize these new spaces, and to grow attached to them.
In Toronto, the closest we've come was a decision to close Queens Quay, west of Yonge, for a few weeks three summers ago. The move was in anticipation of permanent changes that will be introduced ... well, no one's sure exactly when they'll appear, or even if they will.
Sadik-Khan's current project will see a series of squares created along Broadway, which slices through New York at an angle. It will also see fewer traffic lanes and wider sidewalks.
And as she notes, "Bloomberg went with the Broadway transformation project in the middle of an election. There was some risk, of course, but he wanted to do the right thing for the city."
Now there's a concept: Doing the right thing for the city.
Christopher Hume can be reached at [email protected]
http://www.thestar.com/GTA/Columnist/article/624814
Google Earth still shows the "before" of this street at street level
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