We were back at Ridge Hill yesterday, a brand new, in fact uncompleted, shopping center on the top of a hill - which probably gave rise to the tautological name - in Yonkers. The design is sadly 20th Century with remarkably narrow sidewalks and a main street with short term free parking on both sides where passengers stepping out of a vehicle get to balance on a very narrow paved strip or stand in the plantings that run between the road edge and the sidewalk. If you have mobility issues, or need a wheelchair, forget it.
On this visit there were noticeably more shoppers and as the whole development is not super big most people leave their cars in the ample parking buildings surrounding the main street and walk between the stores. Only as the sidewalks fill up it becomes less of a walk and more of a shuffle trying to avoid the street furniture, the plantings, baby strollers, and fellow pedestrians while traffic controllers wearing vests with "pedestrian safety" written on the back do their best to manage both the pedestrians and the cars at the intersections. Why did the developers not follow the Woodbury Commons example and make the space between the stores pedestrian only??? Why anyone was bothering to drive down the main street instead of using one of the parking buildings is a mystery to me. I can only assume it falls under the "because it was there" school of thinking. And while at least pedestrians have sidewalks however inadequate, I saw no cycle lanes at all.
The photo immediately below is Ridge Hill and the one below that is Woodbury Commons.
On this visit there were noticeably more shoppers and as the whole development is not super big most people leave their cars in the ample parking buildings surrounding the main street and walk between the stores. Only as the sidewalks fill up it becomes less of a walk and more of a shuffle trying to avoid the street furniture, the plantings, baby strollers, and fellow pedestrians while traffic controllers wearing vests with "pedestrian safety" written on the back do their best to manage both the pedestrians and the cars at the intersections. Why did the developers not follow the Woodbury Commons example and make the space between the stores pedestrian only??? Why anyone was bothering to drive down the main street instead of using one of the parking buildings is a mystery to me. I can only assume it falls under the "because it was there" school of thinking. And while at least pedestrians have sidewalks however inadequate, I saw no cycle lanes at all.
The photo immediately below is Ridge Hill and the one below that is Woodbury Commons.
What I don't understand is how appalling designs like Ridge Hill continue to be built. The Basin Reserve flyover, a nasty piece of vandalism proposed to run along the edge of an historic cricket ground is being championed by the New Zealand Transport Agency as a necessary piece of infrastructure designed to speed cars into downtown Wellington and back out to the airport. The Agency is ignoring studies in NZ and elsewhere that conclude that the number of cars being driven are decreasing. The weird thing is that the Agency understands enough of the new trend to include a combined pedestrian and cycle way in the flyover design. It is on one side of the flyover only and is only 3 meters wide (that's less than 10 feet for those still thinking imperial). It is supposed to handle cyclists and pedestrians travelling in both directions. Seems like a not very subtle, and a not very safe, piece of lip service to me.
Just to drive the point home if you will excuse the pun, here's a piece from Price Tags about the huge number of unsold cars just hanging out in various parts of the world waiting for enthusiastic drivers to show up with fat wallets. Click on the link below to read the article.
They Just Keep Piling Up
The photo below is from the same article and shows something of the scale. It is time to start designing more inclusively, and time for the car manufacturers and car sales yards to scale back. I'm not anti car but we can do better with our land use in relation to transport choices.
Just to drive the point home if you will excuse the pun, here's a piece from Price Tags about the huge number of unsold cars just hanging out in various parts of the world waiting for enthusiastic drivers to show up with fat wallets. Click on the link below to read the article.
They Just Keep Piling Up
The photo below is from the same article and shows something of the scale. It is time to start designing more inclusively, and time for the car manufacturers and car sales yards to scale back. I'm not anti car but we can do better with our land use in relation to transport choices.
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