Or at least it’s getting to be one. I still find walking through the
canyonlands of midtown Manhattan to be more work than pleasure, but even there
the work done to tame Times Square (very much under construction) promises a
bright future. And strolling down
Broadway is much more pleasant than it previously was, with many pedestrianized
areas that seem to be very supportive of a revitalizing retail economy. The older squares along Broadway
(Madison Square and Union Square, in particular) I found to be delightful urban
experiences on a beautiful Fall day.
Kudos to Mayor Bloomberg, Janette Sadik-Kahn, and New York City DOT for a fine
job (amid the usual New York sound and fury) in planning and implementing a new
way of thinking about transportation and land use in the city.
Social and economic trends are also making a big
difference. Many parts of lower
Manhattan and Brooklyn – with a much better development scale for pedestrians
than midtown – have seen major revitalization, with exciting residential,
commercial, and cultural development.
For those of us that remember a grungier – and more
dangerous – New York, these changes are heartening indeed. And they show how solid (and sometime
fearless) transportation policies can enable transformations that benefit
everyone’s quality of life.
No comments:
Post a Comment