Who are we accomodating: people or cars?

As I walked to the T this morning, I observed several snowplows getting a jump on clearing the streets as the first couple of inches of snow (4-6 predicted for Somerville, where I live) had fallen. Somerville does a great job of keeping the streets well-cleared.

Similarly, some of my neighbors had gotten a jump on the snow by clearing the first couple of inches off their sidewalks before heading to work. As in many cities and towns in Massachusetts, Somerville residents are required to clear their sidewalks of snow within a reasonable time after a storm stops or face fines (and cranky neighbors).

As anyone who's been walking around the urban and semi-urban areas around Boston this month has no doubt noticed, however, sidewalk-clearing policies still result in spotty walking conditions. In my neighborhood, where there's a high volume of foot traffic, I see a lot of people (myself included!) giving up on sidewalks and simply walking in the street.

Every time I see this, I think about how much we need to change the prevailing approach. Why does the city clear streets but not sidewalks? (Some cities do plow sidewalks with small plows, either throughout the city [Brookline] or in commercial areas [Belmont].) In more rural areas where few people move about by foot, this may be a sensible distribution of resources on the basis of people's use of sidewalks, but in areas with high numbers of foot traffic, it simply doesn't make sense.

People should be the beneficiaries of municipal policies, and in densely populated areas well-served by public transit, that includes people on foot as well as in cars. It's past time to realign our narrow, car-centric thinking to a more inclusive approach.

Urban Happiness with Enrique Peñalosa!

[Note: This is an event not to be missed!]

Urban Happiness with Enrique Peñalosa! Hosted by LivableStreets Alliance
What happens when you give street space back to people?
Thursday, February 5, 6:30 pm
@ Boston Public Library, Copley Square, Rabb Lecture Hall

This event is free and open to the public. Enrique Peñalosa is a special guest speaker in the StreetTalk lecture series hosted by LivableStreets Alliance.

An accomplished public official, economist and administrator, Enrique Peñalosa completed his three-year term as Mayor of Bogotá, Colombia on December 31, 2000. While mayor, Peñalosa was responsible for numerous radical improvements to the city and its citizens. He promoted a city model giving priority to children and public spaces and restricting private car use, building hundreds of kilometers of sidewalks, bicycle paths, pedestrian streets, greenways, and parks. He received the Stockholm Challenge Award for organizing a Car-Free Day in 2000 and a referendum vote then endorsed it annually. As part of the pico y plata license plate restriction program, he removed 40% of cars during peak hours. Peñalosa also led efforts to improve Bogotá's marginal neighborhoods through citizen involvement; planted more than 100,000 trees; created a new, highly successful bus-based transit system; and turned a deteriorated downtown avenue into a dynamic pedestrian public space. He helped transform the city's attitude from one of negative hopelessness to one of pride and hope, developing a model for urban improvement based on the equal rights of all people to transportation, education, and public spaces.

This event is part of a 4-day series of events hosted by LivableStreets Alliance and sponsored by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, in collaboration with WalkBoston, Institute for Human Centered Design, Bikes Not Bombs, Charles River Conservancy, and MassBike.

For more information, check out www.livablestreets.info or contact Jackie Douglas at (617) 621-1746, jackie@livablestreets.info.


For a flyer about the event, check out http://www.livablestreets.info/files/Penalosa_5feb09_BPL.pdf

The Ultra Pedestrians

Once you've mastered walking, you can try the next level: The Ultra Pedestrians!

(Link leads to a video.)

Thanks to foot-friendly reader Dan!

Boston Bikes Update Report

For those of you who use or have interest in using bikes to get around, check out this event, hosted by the LivableStreets Alliance:

First Annual "Boston Bikes Update Report"

LivableStreets Alliance will host the 1st annual "Boston Bikes Report" by the city's Director of Bicycle Programs, Nicole Freedman.

When: Thursday, January 29, 7 pm
Where: Boston Public Library, main branch at Copley, Rabb Lecture Hall.

*This event is free and open to the public* The focus of the meeting will be on future steps needed to create the "world class bicycling city" that Mayor Menino has promised. There will be additional discussion about what could be done to significantly expand the cycling population -- and its political influence -- by attracting "traffic intolerant" bicyclists, read more.

Marathon Sports event!

Tomorrow evening, at 7:15, join the RunBoston marathon team for a special event at Marathon Sports in Copley Square. This is your opportunity to meet our marathon team and also to hear Marathon Sports shoe specialists explain the factors that go into their unique shoe-fitting process. All attendees will receive a coupon for 20% off a future purchase.

Before this, join me and other walkers as we walk the last mile of the marathon route, ending up at Marathon Sports in time for this event. Meet in front of the BU bookstore at 6:30!

Bundle up for the cold!

The talk of the town this week is how bitterly cold it is. I'm always amazed at the variety of bundling that people do -- at all times of year, really, but especially when I'm piling on as many layers as I can manage. I was pretty comfortable on my walk this morning, other than my face, because I've never figured out the trick of getting my scarf to stay up over my cheeks.

I'm shocked when I see people exposing bare skin at neck, wrist, or ankle (our intern this morning reported seeing people out and about without socks!). In fact, Somerville, where I live, has just announced a cold weather alert, and is providing warming centers open to the public during this cold spell.

Most of us (and certainly those of us reading this post) won't need to visit a special warming center, and will conduct our lives normally, if with a bit of extra shivering, in the next few days, but this brings up the important point for all of us of dressing appropriately. In the winter, the difference between a cold and shivery walk and a pleasant one is my clothing.

It seems obvious to those people who are accustomed to cold weather, but wearing the proper cold-weather attire makes all the difference, and when it's bitterly cold, the right amount may be more than you think. For the folks I work with who are from tropical climates, the idea of being warm in the out-of-doors during winter is itself inconceivable until I explain just how many layers I'm talking about.

It is possible to walk outside in the winter and stay warm, but you have to plan for it. If the option is to bundle up or not set foot outside the house from December through March, I pick the down parka and three layers of socks!

Unshoveled sidewalk? Make the call

With winter in full swing, I'm thinking about snowy and icy sidewalks on a daily basis. Over the weekend, I saw a number of problem spots in Cambridge and Somerville. Of course, there's the typical sidewalk that didn't get cleared after snow, and has been packed down by pedestrians into an uneven, pitted layer of slick ice. These are a pain both for people walking by and for the homeowner who suddenly realizes that it's now or never to clear that ice before the next storm, and I saw (and thanked) a lot of people who were out chipping ice during the day on Saturday.

I also saw a number of crosswalk push-buttons buried behind a big pile of snow, meaning that in order to reach the button to get a walk phase at that intersection, I had to climb up on an icy pile of snow. In most cases, this was due to the city's snow plowing, and Cambridge should know better!

However, the thing that jumped out at me most was businesses that hadn't cleared their sidewalks. This stood out to me because I have an easy action item coming out of it: when I see an uncleared or poorly cleared sidewalk in front of a business, I can either pop in and tell them that I'm concerned about the state of their sidewalk, or call them later to complain.

I've started doing this with the business at the end of the street where I live, which rarely clears their sidewalk on my street, and I was delighted to see that this morning, for the first time this winter, they'd shoveled along my street! Now, I'm going to call them to say thanks.

Call Governor Patrick TODAY!

Please call the Governor's office TODAY (617-725-4005) to ask Governor Deval Patrick to sign House Bill #4883-08.

This bill would allow municipalities to increase fines for people who do not clear their sidewalks and also establishes that an owner's good faith effort to remove snow or ice will not make that person liable for injuries due to a fall (full text is shown below).

Your friendly reminder phone call need take no more than 30 seconds.

Section 5. A municipality may by ordinances and by-laws provide for the removal of snow and ice from sidewalks within such portions of the municipality as they consider expedient by the owner of land abutting upon such sidewalks. Such ordinances and by-laws shall determine the time and manner of removal and shall affix penalties, not exceeding $200 for each violation thereof. Such ordinances and by-laws shall be specific as to the width of the area to be cleared and the standards for clearance.
An owner, lessor, occupant or other person in charge of real property or an agent thereof who, in good faith, removes or attempts to remove snow or ice from a sidewalk abutting his property shall not be liable for personal injuries allegedly caused by the snowy or icy condition of the sidewalk resulting from his act or omission unless the alleged act or omission constitutes gross negligence.

Winter in Boston: not for sissies

Wow, this sure has been an unpleasant week for walking, and, really, leaving the house in general here in eastern Massachusetts. Yuck!

Monday, we were treated to a thin sheen of ice on just about everything. Several of my friends slipped on their front steps or sidewalks. I continued my campaign to shame the architecture firm that lives at the end of my street and never clears their sidewalk by calling them and pointing out that walking by their building is extremely treacherous.

Tuesday wasn't bad, but yesterday blew chunks, rather literally! I felt like I was walking on small, icy marbles suspended in water for maximum slipping and slopping. Happily, by the end of the day, it was just rain, but when temperatures dropped last night, that was transformed into a thick sheet of ice almost everywhere.

Take care out and about today, and this winter! I know it's no better to be on a bike or car today, either.