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Cars going that slow can see what's in front. It's not risk-free, but neither is current street construction. Places that have shared streets don't seem to have a higher accidents, all the links I've found suggest they have a lower accident rate.
Likely because they have less cars or different accident reporting rules(and totally different laws regarding damages and licensing ) but ah lets think about it, would you want your 6 year old anywhere near a 800 pound piece of machinery being driven by an stranger who could be (drunk, high, inexperienced, distracted or elderly with vision and reaction time issues perhaps even confused)?
Cars, bikes and pedestrians don't mix well on the same road.
Likely because they have less cars or different accident reporting rates(and totally different laws regarding damages and licensing ) but ah lets think about it, would you want your 6 year old anywhere near a 800 pound piece of machinery being driven by an stranger who could be (drunk, high, inexperienced, distracted or elderly with vision and reaction time issues perhaps even confused)?
Cars, bikes and pedestrians don't mix well on the same road.
They mix just fine when you plan for pedestrians first. Also many of these Dutch communities are heavy on parks, you should check out Almere, Netherlands, it is a fully planned suburb that actually has a bicycle highway basically and has parks surrounding just about every neighborhood.
They mix just fine when you plan for pedestrians first. Also many of these Dutch communities are heavy on parks, you should check out Almere, Netherlands, it is a fully planned suburb that actually has a bicycle highway basically and has parks surrounding just about every neighborhood.
I think bicycle highways are great things. Locally we have an bike path near the lake that gets a lot of use. The thing is the bikers are much slower than drivers but faster than pedestrians with the pathway they are away from BOTH! I had to cross it once years ago and it was like crossing a busy road with no stop sign with so many bikers. This is why there are rules(in theory) against riding on the sidewalk.
I think bicycle highways are great things. Locally we have an bike path near the lake that gets a lot of use. The thing is the bikers are much slower than drivers but faster than pedestrians are away from BOTH! I had to cross it once years ago and it was like crossing a busy road with no stop sign with so many bikers. This is why there are rules(in theory) against riding on the sidewalk.
I agree, bike highways are a great idea and often times an extremely cheap form of infrastructure. Portland could have a world class bike infrastructure for about $750 million, which is only a small percentage we spend on roads for cars each year.
I am against biking on the sidewalk, though where I live now it is unsafe to bike on the road. Whenever I did have my bike on the sidewalk in Portland I was moving at the same speed as pedestrians and would stop whenever needed, and I was usually only biking on the sidewalk because I had reached my destination.
I have an arrogant guy in my neighborhood who takes up the entire lane while walking his dog. He walks with traffic and hugs the centerline because he doesn't want the dog off the tar for fear of picking up ticks.
He told me.........." I am smart enough to know my rights as a pedestrian"
Yet stupid enough to not even know which side of the road to walk on.
Cars going that slow can see what's in front. It's not risk-free, but neither is current street construction. Places that have shared streets don't seem to have a higher accidents, all the links I've found suggest they have a lower accident rate.
Personally I think most suburban neighborhoods are poorly designed because they have only one or two ways in and out of them, and usually rely on those same limited ways in and out even if you are on foot, which discouraged walkable communities.
Unless you live on an intersection, there's only two ways out most everywhere.
I was gonna say no, but further looking into this question the answer is yes, there are places in the US that have shared streets.
http://streetswiki.wikispaces.com/Shared+Space
This gives a general description of this topic. The article mentioned Seattle and with a quick look I came across a pdf, in Seattle they are called "green streets" instead of shared streets. They have tested it on a couple streets.
https://www.google.com/maps?q=Seattl...357.78,,0,2.11
And this is a Google Maps view of one of these green streets in Seattle. I have actually walked down this street before, part of it has been merged with a nearby park, and it is actually a very pleasant street to walk through.
Unless you live on an intersection, there's only two ways out most everywhere.
Yes, for a street there is only two ways one could go, but we are not talking about streets, we are talking about neighborhoods. When you build a neighborhood of several streets that house 100+ homes, there should be more access points into that neighborhood than just a street or two. This can be corrected by having surrounding neighborhoods connect to each other to utilize their access points, as well as better connecting two neighborhoods together.
This also brings up a great point of walkable communities, if you take that access point where two neighborhoods connect, that is a great location for small commercial buildings to be built that give people in those two neighborhoods a connection to a few potential local businesses, like coffee shops, delis, bodegas, dry cleaning, and so on.
Yes, for a street there is only two ways one could go, but we are not talking about streets, we are talking about neighborhoods. When you build a neighborhood of several streets that house 100+ homes, there should be more access points into that neighborhood than just a street or two. This can be corrected by having surrounding neighborhoods connect to each other to utilize their access points, as well as better connecting two neighborhoods together.
This also brings up a great point of walkable communities, if you take that access point where two neighborhoods connect, that is a great location for small commercial buildings to be built that give people in those two neighborhoods a connection to a few potential local businesses, like coffee shops, delis, bodegas, dry cleaning, and so on.
Having interconnecting neighborhoods also increases the traffic count in those neighborhoods. I've lived in both types of 'hoods; there's less traffic in the stand-alone ones. Sure, everyone would like a dry cleaner's in their neighborhood, with those solvents and chemicals all over the area. Great idea. I wouldn't mind a coffee shop, though! My neighborhood is connected to several others by bike/walking path.
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