THINK.urban
Pedestrians
Carless Urban Design
Along with the recent discussions on developments without parking spaces, it was news this week that Los Angeles has approved a plan for a district without any mandatory parking requirements (you can read the full Streetsblog.org report here). Other auto-related news has surfaced recently regarding the heart of the matter – not only the space … Continue reading
New Project: PDX Street Art Advocacy
We’ve started up a new project here at THINK.urban we’re calling PDX Street Art Advocacy. Spurred on by Tiffany Conklin, a recent Portland State University graduate in Urban Studies, and her master’s thesis on street art in Portland neighborhoods, we’re hoping to help people with the process of murals, conduct more research on street art … Continue reading
Post-disaster Transportation
Imagine your city in crisis. For some of us, that might not be far removed from a recent painful natural or man made disaster. For others, like us here in Portland, it could be the near future when, not if, the overdue earthquake hits. In New York City, millions of people are still without power … Continue reading
The Visitor's Perspective
There’s a lot of talk lately about parking, whether it’s new no-parking developments on SE Division St. as we mentioned recently, occupying parking spaces with the newly debuted “street seats”, or claims that the car is the “most dangerous invention in the world”. Whatever your personal opinion it is a fact that we have to … Continue reading
A Hybrid Solution to Unpaved Streets?
Those whom get alerts from Portland’s Mayor Sam Adams received a strange email last week, with the following text: “Live on a gravel or dirt street? Portland’s new Out of the Mud (and Dust) initiative aims to help. Your feedback is wanted.” There are over 65 miles of gravel or unimproved roads in Portland, and … Continue reading
Science of Pedestrian Movements
An interesting article from the Economist on ‘The Wisdom of Crowds‘ echoes much of the seminal research of William Whyte (City), Edward T. Hall (The Hidden Dimension), and others that have closely studied the behavior of pedestrians and other users of public spaces. The interplay of cultural habits that tells us to step right or … Continue reading
