There is a book out called, I think, Street Reclaiming. I
think written by an Australian author. His underlying
theory is that people need to claim the street in such a way
that cars believe it is a pedestrian environment that they
are driving through as opposed to a car thoroughfare that
people walk across. Some if his ideas including taking out
a street parking spot to put in table and chairs - kind of
extending the cafe into the street or visually narrowing the
street. Or painting large murals in the street or narrowing
the perception of the street with pedestrian items. Now
that I live in "no sidewalk land," I completely appreciate
what "kids playing in the street" does to the environment.
Because there are no sidewalks (nature paths galore
although) people use and kids play in the street all the
time. This has an amazing impact on cars. They move slowly
and carefully through this entire area.
I worked for a couple of years on speeding in our south
Minneapolis neighborhood, but the requirements of the city
are pretty strict, not very creative and quite onerous.
Even if you are able to get funding to make more extensive
improvements like speed humps or curb changes, getting the
overwhelming neighborhood to agree on a specific solution is
quite a different thing. This is something that I think is
going to take some real City Council leadership in order to
change the philosophy of street safety/environments and help
move solutions along more quickly to create better streets
in the city.
Russ Peterson
former Standish
now St. Michael
Russell W. Peterson, RA, CID
Founder
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"You can only fly if you stretch your wings."
Metro Minneapolis - Saint Michael
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Saint Michael, Minnesota 55376
(763) 497-1003 phone & fax
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