new-york

Save the Economy by Removing Parking

- Adam Clare 2 Comments

Studies done in the last couple years disprove the myth that businesses need parking for customers or they’ll go out of business. The Spacing Wire has a post that looks at the studies and concludes that removing parking is good for business and making room for pedestrians or bike lanes improve livability.

A 2006 study of a Manhattan street (PDF) showed that, in fact, local businesses would benefit if parking was removed so that sidewalks could be widened. Last summer, on behalf of the Clean Air Partnership, Fred Sztabinski, then coordinator of the Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation (TCAT) (and sometime Spacing contributor), embarked on a similar exercise for a street in Toronto. The report, Bike Lanes, On-Street Parking and Business (PDF), has just been released. It’s a study of Bloor Street in the Annex (Huron to Palmerston), and it shows that removing parking for either bike lanes or a widened sidewalk would actually benefit local businesses in that area. The study surveyed both merchants and people walking along various parts of this stretch of Bloor during the month of July 2008.

The first part of the study shows that the majority of owners or managers of local businesses estimate that only a minority of their customers drive to their location, and also that they believe it would not harm, and might even benefit, their business if parking were removed to make space for either bikes or pedestrians.

The second part of the survey shows that the merchants are correct in their estimation of how their customers get to their store: 46% walk, 32% take transit, 12% cycle, and only 10% drive. Not surprisingly, walkers were also the most frequent visitors to the area, followed by cyclists, transit users, and finally drivers. Walkers also spent considerably more in the area than other types of customers. In other words, pedestrians were by far the best customers, followed by cyclists. Drivers, meanwhile, are the least frequent visitors and are low spenders.

Plane Crashes Into Water, All Survive

- Adam Clare

Plane in water
An airbus carrying 155 people crashed into the Hudson river in New York City yesterday and everyone survived. Wow! This is the first I’ve heard of a plane this big ditching in water and people live. Absolutely stunning!

The BBC has an article on the amazing pilot who saved the day.

According to air traffic controllers, an “eerie calm” defined their communications with the cockpit as their options dwindled and the pilot decided to ditch into the Hudson, a union official told Reuters news agency.
Incredibly, Capt Sullenberger managed to land the aircraft safely on the water.
Mayor Bloomberg said that the pilot told him that the captain then “walked the plane twice after everybody else was off and tried to verify that there was nobody else onboard”.

Video on NY Environmental Artist

- Adam Clare

This landed in my email today from Parisa:

I’d like to share with you a video from Current.com that I thought you and your blog would appreciate; in the piece, Fritz Haeg–green architect/artist, discusses his current art project called Animal Estates where he makes homes for animals where people live in cities, suburbs, private properties, institution, etc. Based on the Manhattan Project, Fritz’s intention is to make homes for animals that used to live four-hundred years ago on locations where he’s placed his art. In the video, Fritz discusses his inspiration, roots, concepts and the ideas behind this project

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New Yorkers Last Longer

- Adam Clare

New York is a healthy place to live – that may come as a surprise to people who remember New York being a cesspool of yesteryear. New York amgazine has an article on why New Yorkers last longer and how as whole New York breeds a healthy lifestyle.

Things Are Good readers should know that cities as a whole are becoming more attractive to live in for health reasons. The more urban the better. Cities are more walkable than suburban and rural areas and they provide more opportunities for innovation and progress.

From the New York magazine article:

The health difference was shockingly large: A white man who lived in a more urban, mixed-use area was fully ten pounds lighter than a demographically identical guy who lived in a sprawling suburb.
…
Interestingly, urban theorists believe it is not just the tightly packed nature of the city but also its social and economic density that has life-giving properties. When you’re jammed, sardinelike, up against your neighbors, it’s not hard to find a community of people who support you—friends or ethnic peers—and this strongly correlates with better health and a longer life. Then there are economies of scale: A big city has bigger hospitals that can afford better equipment—the future of medicine arrives here first. We also tend to enjoy healthier food options, since demanding foodies (vegetarians and the like) are aggregated in one place, making it a mecca for farm-fresh produce and top-quality fish, chicken, and beef. There’s also a richer cultural scene than in a small town, which helps keep people out and about and thus mentally stimulated.

New York to Power Buildings Using Renewable Energy

- Adam Clare

Mayor Bloomberg shows no sign of slowing down his drive to reduce New York City’s carbon emissions, which is of course a good thing. He’s now set to announce that municipal buildings in NYC will switch to solar power and move from dirty regular oil to a less-damaging biodiesel. Other mayors (and North American federal leaders!) should follow NYC’s example of emission cutting.

On Monday, Bloomberg said the city will issue a request for proposals for a pilot program to install solar panels on city-owned buildings in hopes of generating 2 megawatts of solar capacity _ offsetting about 320 tons of emissions per year, equal to taking more than 50 U.S. cars per year off the streets. The city will not pay for the installation but will buy electricity from the provider.

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