The popular understanding of the origin of street design in Boston goes back to the original wisdom of cows pastured on the common and commuting home to farms. Although this is more folklore than fact, it does reflect the liklihood that streets were developed piecemeal in response to short-term needs and not as a part [...]
From the category archives:
Building Community
A few Halloweens ago, I picked up a barrel of “Halloween Pretzels” from Costco–mini-pretzels in orange and black bags in a big plastic container. About the ONLY one happy about that choice was our dog who got into the “treats” when the untouched bowl was left on the floor inadvertently. I believe we finally choked [...]
A few weeks ago, I set up an IdeaScale web site to gather suggestions for ways to improve Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety in Westwood. It has turned out to be an effective, easy way to collect ideas and our challenge now is to do something about those ideas. The site is simple to use–that is [...]
Last Wednesday, Westwood schools postponed their participation in International Walk to School day due to a torrential downpour. This morning, we await the dawn to melt the first frost of the season, as the thermometer at my house reads 34 degrees and the Norwood airport reports 28. But clear skies should make this a spectacular [...]
Measuring a baseline is the first step towards assessing and ultimately achieving improvements to walkability. Walk Score has generated a ton of news lately–winning a Rockefeller Grant to improve their service, providing a quantitative basis for the CEOs for Cities study that illustrated a link between walkability and housing prices and providing a measuring stick [...]
Over at WestwoodBlog, I write about my vision for increased walking and biking in Westwood. I include the following list of resources that are great for anyone looking to improve pedestrian and bicycle transportation: Dan Burden’s Walkable Communities is a website with tons of articles about this topic. Walkability is not just for cities or [...]
There is a great article in the Globe today about the Charles River Wheelmen and their Saturday Morning Fitness Ride in Needham. The weekly ride has proceeded uninterrupted for 617 weekends, including a few during blizzard conditions.
I believe our most fundamental challenge is to restore a sense of community–a building and strengthening of the ties within our neighborhoods and between our communities, especially the neighboring towns where development is uncoordinated and often in opposition to the interests of the next town over. But what can any of us really do about [...]
Today is International Walk to School Day–but not for some communities where walking and biking have been banned. Two recent news stories are discouraging on many levels, but do not represent the norm as more and more communities are, in fact, adopting alternatives to driving. In Saratoga Springs, NY, a woman and her 12-year old [...]
According to land use strategist Chris Leinberger, speaking at the Walk21 conference in New York City yesterday and reported on StreetsBlog: If the American Dream of the Baby Boomers was all about being able to have a car and a house in suburbia, the new American Dream is having the choice between living in drivable [...]