October 2012
1 post
A Rare Sight for NYC →
In preparation for Hurricane Sandy hitting the East Coast, all transit has come to a halt. Here are photos of some of the busiest transit hubs in NYC in a way you never see them — empty!
September 2012
2 posts
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Saying Goodbye to the Things We (Think We) Love
As an urban planning student and environmentalist, I often find myself thinking about cars — why we have them, why we subsidize them, what makes us give them up in favor of other modes of transportation.
Most recently, it was my mother who reminded me just how deep our car culture runs.
About two years ago, my brother got in an accident on the New Jersey turnpike and totaled his car (no...
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WatchI have been admiring this piece of subway art on my daily commute on the F since it was installed, and I just found this excellent video of the artist, Sophie Blackall, explaining her work. She truly captures the richness and diversity of life one encounters in a subway car.
I also love that she has illustrated Craigslist’s Missed Connections posts. I need to get my hand on a copy of that...
July 2012
1 post
Return to Tumblr
Excuse the hiatus. Life has been busy indeed.
I’m hoping that I’ve given myself enough of an adjustment period and will now be able to update this more regularly.
Being that research is my life now, I thought it’d be appropriate to share a quote I recently came across that I quite like:
“All advances in scientific understanding, at every level, begin with a...
January 2012
2 posts
4 tags
Come on, are headphones really that bad?
On the heels of a recently released report in Injury Prevention Journal, the Department of Public Safety at NYU just sent out a Community Safety Alert about the dangers of walking while wearing headphones or earbuds. In fact, this report has been widely circulated by local and national media all week. In NYU’s statement, they cited the fact that “accidents involving people hit by...
December 2011
1 post
“Minimum parking requirements are truly drugs for cars,” says Dom Nozzi,...”
– “Putting on their parking caps” by Adam Millard-Ball (2002)
November 2011
3 posts
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October 2011
4 posts
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Make Room for Pedestrians and Bicyclists...
This is a great visualization of the streetscape changes to NYC’s iconic Broadway. With the pedestrianization of Times Square, Grist reports that there’s been a 63% reduction in pedestrian injuries between 42nd and 47th street, quite an accomplishment in public safety. It’s been good for economic development too — Retail rents went up 71% in Times Square, which is the...
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Displacing People to Make Space for Cars -- Is...
This post originally appeared on This Big City for Urban Asia Week, 10/17-10/23.
by Lyndsey Scofield
Image courtesy of lharkness on flickr
With over 1 million of Delhi’s residents displaced through the mass demolition of slum neighborhoods over the last 10 years, Bela Bhatia and Jean Drèze ask, “Is India evicting the wrong squatters?”
In Delhi, India’s 2nd most populous city, slum...
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September 2011
3 posts
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The Growing Role of Social Media in Transportation
When you think of people who use social media, you generally don’t think of traffic engineers or state DOTs, but last week’s web-based conference on social media held by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) would surely change your mind. With panel discussions and interactive breakout sessions, the conference mimicked a true bricks-and-mortar event and attracted hundreds of attendees. For an...
“From my perspective, creative people power regional economic growth, and these...”
– Richard Florida, Cities and the Creative Class (2005)
August 2011
5 posts
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Climate Adaptation: An open letter to my readers... →
climateadaptation:
Dear all,
My buddies bust my ass about being an environmentalist who “loves” big government. I get a lot of flack for it. Sometimes I’m dismissed as some lefty enviro-wingnut because of my willingness to support environmental regulations. Well, you know what? I do not love big government. I do…
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Taking the Blame: Who's at Fault in the...
There’s no way you can ignore the tension that exists between bikers, pedestrians, and drivers on the road (just take a look at this video). And this is especially true in a city as dense as New York, with 8 million people sharing streets, sidewalks, subway platforms and parks.
While I’m wholeheartedly an advocate of biking and walking over using cars (for too many reasons to list),...
5 tags
The Future, Without Malls
If I were to ask you to list symbols of American consumerism, I bet the words “shopping mall” would come to mind pretty quickly. And that’s because for the past 5 decades, shopping malls have been a dominant feature of the retail scene in a country that has more retail space than most. In 2009, NPR reported that the U.S. had 20 square feet of retail space per person (almost 7x as...
July 2011
5 posts
5 Photos That Just Might Make You Appreciate... →
Subways colliding, cars collapsing through the ground into tunnels, taxis ending up underground, and slightly larger crowds on the platform: here are five photos that might make you appreciate the modern day subway a little bit… even when it’s 91 degrees down there. via gothamist
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When design kills - Grist →
I can’t seem to get the Raquel Nelson story out of my head. It just brings back memories I have of crossing those same types of imposing, 4-lane divided arterial roads when I lived in Tampa, Florida during college. It was actually living in that environment that inspired me to become an urban planner in the first place.
Reposted from Grist via alcaniz
alcaniz:
“Bad design kills...
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The Cemetery: Predecessor to the Public Park
Growing up, I always found it a bit odd that my grandparents enjoyed taking lunch at the nearby cemetery. Given all the other options in town (Cummings Beach, Scalzi Park, Cove Marina, our own backyard), why choose to dine at the final resting place of Stamford’s departed?
But over the years, I’ve discovered that my grandparents may not have been so crazy after all. In fact, it was...
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Now you can comment!
Being new to tumblr, I didn’t realize that posts didn’t automatically come with an option for readers to leave comments. Silly me.
But after some quick googling, I am happy to report that commenting is now enabled on my posts. For those of you who might be interested in adding this function, here’s what you do:
1) Go to disqus.com
2) Sign up using your tumblr account...
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June 2011
2 posts
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WatchThis is a great video by Streetfilms that showcases “complete street” designs. This new approach calls for roads to be designed (and re-designed) so that they function for all types of users.
Complete Streets legislation recently passed both the Assembly and Senate in New York State, which will hopefully become a trend across the country. Tri-State Transportation Campaign Executive...
A Rockin' Block for Walkin'
Gas prices are on the rise. About one third of the American population is obese. Collectively, our vehicles release over 1.7 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year, which contributes significantly to global climate change.
Clearly there’s a great need for more walk-able, bike-able, and transit-friendly development in our country. But what is it that makes a community more...
May 2011
2 posts
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The Public Park, an Urban Oasis
Memorial Day Weekend — What better time to discuss the benefit and value of public parks?
If you live in a city, there’s a good chance you’re flocking to the nearest park to celebrate the beginning of summer. And that’s because public parks have so much to offer, especially to us city dwellers.
Just this afternoon, I visited my favorite urban oasis, Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Family...
It all starts here.
Hi. I’m Lyndsey.
In the fall, I’ll be starting as a graduate student at NYU Wagner School of Public Service for their Master of Urban Planning program. There I hope to develop the tools to shape communities into more sustainable and enjoyable places to live.
In this blog, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on developments in the urban planning world, as well as advice based on my...
