Claiming back the pedestrians' rightful territory

(Here in Shepparton – my hometown in Victoria, Australia – traders want the city’s Maude St pedestrian mall re-opened to slow moving, privately owned vehicles, seemingly oblivious to the international emergence of shoppers on foot, a research illustrated preference, and along with that, coming is a shift to driverless, public transport. Lloyd Alter’s story about what is happening in America’s New York City illustrates that Sheppartonians need to think deeply before putting vehicles, particularly privately owned cars and motorcycles, back in the city’s mall – Robert McLean.)  

The spacious footpaths New York City
once had (bottom) and the almost
non-existent pedestrian refuges
people are now forced to share (top).
 

Riding a Citibike in New York City can be scary, especially in rush hour. I was in the city recently for a conference and dealing with the trucks and big black cars was hard enough, but the hardest part was riding down Seventh Ave and dealing with people walking in the street. It was clear that they were there because the sidewalks are just too crowded to cope.

Winnie Hu of the New York Times covered the subject recently, in New York's sidewalks are so packed, that pedestrians are taking to the streets.

The problem is particularly acute in Manhattan. Around Penn Station and the Port Authority Bus Terminal, two of the city’s main transit hubs, commuters clutching coffee cups and briefcases squeeze by one another during the morning and evening rushes. Throngs of shoppers and visitors sometimes bring swaths of Lower Manhattan to a standstill, prompting some local residents to cite clogged sidewalks as their biggest problem in a recent community survey.

Read the Treehugger story by Lloyd Alter - "It's time to take back the streets and to make our sidewalks grand again.”

Talking about 'champions' of the future

The idea of “champions” will be discussed at Saturday’s gathering Beneath the Wisteria in Shepparton.

A post-event critique of Shepparton’s recent “Slap Tomorrow – A Wake-Up Call” revealed many things, one being the need for champions in many specialized areas.

Beneath the Wisteria supporter, Mr John Pettigrew, attended Saturday night’s annual Goulburn Valley Concert Orchestra concert at Eastbank, and found it to be a “wonderful, and really enjoyable evening”.

Mr Pettigrew said: “This is a wonderful example of a few prime movers in our community providing a stage for local and regional talent to excel in way we could only dream of in a country region”.

“The befits to individual participants, the local arts community and the wider audience are evident not only in the growing support for the event but the instilling of confidence that we can achieve almost anything if we put in the effort and work together,” he said.

Mr Pettigrew said the Slap Tomorrow committee could learn from the success of Saturday’s concert and in that employ and facilitate the accumulated local sector-based expertise in a co-operative manner to explore areas of joint benefit to all those involved and the broader sustainability of our region.

“The key appears to be a few champions in each of the designated sectors to bring this about,” Mr Pettigrew said.

Tomorrow’s discussions will begin with consideration of the recent Slap Tomorrow forum, which was first alluded to at Beneath the Wisteria, where to from here and then discussion about locals who may be champions of the future.

The Saturday, June 29, Beneath the Wisteria is free, open to anyone interested and is held at the northern end of the Maude St Mall, beginning at 11:30am and is usually last for about an hour. Some public seating is available, but those attending are advised to bring a folding chair. All who attend will be welcome to comment or contribute ideas.