Two Thirds Green, One Third Black

It looks like New York will get a once in a lifetime opportunity. I trust that someone good will be found that can change the face of traffic engineering in New York City. Now if only we could pass a stimulus package that would make Danes proud. What kind of package would they pass you ask? Well one with two thirds green and one third black. Perhaps we could learn something about framing.

Last Thursday, the Danish government agreed to invest 94 billion kroner ($16 billion) to improve the nation’s roads, railways and bike lanes by 2020.

Traffic Minister Lars Barfoed was quoted by The Copenhagen Post as saying, “The shape of the agreement is clear: two-thirds green, one-third black,” meaning that most of the budget will go towards public transit infrastructure and the rest will be spent on asphalt road projects.

Much different than the 80/20 highways to transit we promote here. 4/5ths Black. Does that mean 4/5ths home ownership?

Jan Gehl's Firm Critiques Viaduct Options

That's kind of a big deal. Jan Gehl can be credited with turning both Copenhagen and Melbourne into livable places based on his thinking about streets for people. He has also been highly influencial in New York recently. I was a little disappointed in some of the ideas that came out of the surface viaduct vision. It seemed like all this open space for nothing. People wouldn't really use it because it wasn't scaled correctly. And Matt and others called it as well.

So what's the solution to this "too wide" problem? Dan Bertolet suggests a new line of buildings on the east side of the plaza, which I think is a good idea.

What would be great is a new line of buildings, perhaps a true boulevard that creates streetscapes for diners, and restaurants and general activity that isn't only tourists. All of this instead of crazy huge open plazas. That and allowing buildings could create value for the space and creating transit and bikeways will encourage alternative transport. Don't need another huge open space.