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Street Videos

Inspirational Video Gallery

PUBLIC SPACE

Fixing the Great Mistake: Autocentric Development

Watch and see what Park Avenue used to look like, how we ceded it to the automobile, and what we need to do to reclaim the street as a space where people take precedence over traffic.

Paint a Parking Lot, Put Up a Paradise

What once was a triangle on Pearl Street for about two dozen car parking spots has become an oasis of green complete with chairs, tables, umbrellas and art.

Summer Streets Are Back!

Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced this week (July 2009) the return and expansion of the Summer Streets program along with more than 1,500 free events taking place throughout New York City this summer (July 2009).

INTERVIEW: Gary Toth: Reinventing Transportation Planning as Community Development

For thirty-four years, Mr. Toth worked for the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), and become known for his collaboration and facilitation skills, and was one of the architects of the transformation of NJDOT to a stakeholder inclusive process helping the state become a national leader in Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS).

TRAFFIC CALMING

Chicane - Animated Traffic Calming

Do you know what a chicane is?

Raised Crosswalk

This stop-animation Streetfilm illustrates the advantages of adding a raised crosswalk.

Animation: Diverter

As demonstrated in this short animation, once the diverters are in place, traffic decreases on the side street. Cars on the side street must turn left, but cyclists can continue straight. This makes the side street safer for cyclists and pedestrians.

Intersection Repair

Ever dreamed of making the streets outside your abode more livable, pedestrian-friendly, and community-oriented?

Portland, Ore. - Traffic Calming: Diagonal Diverter

In this short segment, Greg Raisman from the Portland Office of Transportation explains the reasoning behind this traffic calming measure that keeps neighborhoods free of thru traffic.

CARS & PARKING

Tom Vanderbilt Talks "Traffic"

Whether you're a transportation geek or just curious about why people do the things they do behind the wheel, Tom Vanderbilt's Traffic is one of the most fascinating books you can open up.

Illustrating Parking Reform with Dr. Shoup

On his recent visit to New York, Dr. Donald Shoup, professor of Urban Planning at UCLA, sat down with Mark Gorton of the Open Planning Project in front of a typical NYC street grid map to discuss parking policy.

Dr. Shoup: Parking Guru!

According to Dr. Shoup, free parking is the root problem of many of the ills that face our biggest cities. He posits that reforming parking policy will lead to a better pedestrian environment, cleaner streets and air, safer downtown shopping districts, and - yes - even less headaches for drivers trying to find that ever elusive curb space.

Drivers Behaving Rudely

Cars blocking crosswalks, drivers failing to yield to pedestrians, unnecessary honking and a slew of other quality-of-walking violations are still a routine occurrence to contend with on nearly every corner of New York City.

BIKES & PEDESTRIANS

Physically Separated Bike Lanes

Advocates from Transportation Alternatives, The Project for Public Spaces, and The Open Planning Project join "Gridlock Sam" Schwartz and Enrique Penalosa to call for New York City to consider experimenting with some form of physically separated bike lanes in the near future.

Seattle Crosswalk: Tap foot, Lights blink, Cross street

Well check this out - as you enter the crosswalk make sure you touch the yellow rectangle on the sidewalk. This activates the lights that line the crosswalk. Drivers stop and it should be safe to begin your adventure: you'll feel a bit like an airplane coming in for a landing. Frankly, it's very empowering and a lot of fun!

Contra-flow Bike Lane - Boulder, CO

Among the many bicycle amenities the city can boast, none spoke to us more than the contra-flow bicycle lane that runs three city blocks, connecting their popular Pearl Street pedestrian mall to a vital link of interconnected greenways. Streetfilms was impressed - and a little bit obsessed - by it.

The Capital's Colossal Contraflow Cycle Track

While we were down in Washington, DC for the National Bike Summit, Streetfilms got the chance to check out some of the innovative bike infrastructure.

Berkeley Bike Boulevards

In Berkeley, Calif. a citywide network of bicycle priority streets called Bicycle Boulevards allow cyclists to navigate safely. They are marked by smart traffic management, bountiful traffic calming, and the aura of livability and putting people first, cars second.

The Wiggle's Green Bike Box & Left Turn Lane Combo

"The Wiggle" is one of San Francisco's most beloved and cherished bike routes and guides riders the easiest way between two nasty hills.

NYC DOT explains Bike Lanes in the Big Apple

Bike lanes: In some cities people are literally dying to have them and some people go so far as to mark their own...

TRANSIT

HOP, SKIP, and JUMP aboard a Boulder Bus

Welcome to an innovative way of thinking about transit: ask your passengers to design routes, let them name them, and decide the frequency in which they operate. That's what Boulder, Colorado does and they sure seem to have discovered the right way to make bus riding fun and enticing!

Interview with Enrique Peñalosa (Short Version)

As mayor of Bogota, Colombia, Enrique Peñalosa accomplished remarkable changes of monumental proportions for the people of his country in just three years.

YOUTH EDUCATION

P.S. 87 First graders give peds, cyclists & drivers advice

Livable Streets Education has been working in New York City schools, encouraging students to explore and question the environments around their school and in their neighborhoods, and to voice the changes they want to see on their streets.

Brooklyn Students Paint the Pavement

As you'll see the students, teachers, volunteers and neighborhood residents all pitched in to bring the street to life, courtesy of tweleve vibrant colors.

After School with Livable Streets Education

This afterschool program allowed students to explore, observe and interact with the streets and public space around their school, and provided first hand lessons in science, sustainability, civics and language arts.