walkableprinceton

No Grocery Shop Too Large For The Cargo Bike

Posted on August 28, 2013 by walkableprinceton

Cargo bike available for customer use in grocery store in Malmo's West Harbor mixed-use development. (Click to expand)

Cargo bike available for customer use in grocery store in Malmo’s West Harbor mixed-use redevelopment zone. (Click to expand)

This week, Walkable Princeton is running some stories from our recent overseas vacation. Previous posts in this series are here and here. Our regular local content is back after Labor Day.

If you want to live a ‘green’ lifestyle, or if you just like regular exercise, using your car less is an excellent idea. But we can’t walk everywhere, right? Ahat about those trips that require a car, like trips to the supermarket? For those who shop in industrial sizes and quantities, a car, maybe even a truck, is necessary. But at least one grocery store in southern Sweden is offering customer’s free use of a nifty ‘cargo bike’ (pictured above) to haul away their shopping. Continue reading →

Walkable Shopping In Brighton, England

Posted on August 27, 2013 by walkableprinceton

Brighton seafront.

This week, Walkable Princeton is running some stories from our recent overseas vacation, about towns with walkable ideas that might be relevant to life in Princeton. Previous posts in this series are here. Our regular local content is back after Labor Day.

Think of a historic town with great independent stores and restaurants, and an extremely environmentally-conscious residents. Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Transportation, Biking, Complete Streets, Density, Downtown Vibrancy, Sustainability, The Parking Question | Tagged Brighton, Brighton & Hove, Bus, North Laine, Princeton, Seaside resort | 4 Comments

Postcard From Walkable [Old] York!

Posted on August 26, 2013 by walkableprinceton

History is everywhere in York, England. (Click to expand.)

Summer vacations can be a great opportunity to check out some different places and see how they compare to our home town, Princeton. While attending a friend’s wedding in York, England, the sense of history was everywhere. Founded in AD 71 by the Romans, York was the capital of Viking England, a key battle site during the English Civil War in the 17th century and was even bombed by the Luftwaffe during the Blitz.

Like Princeton, York is also Continue reading →

Posted in Density, Downtown Vibrancy, Smart Growth, The Parking Question, Zoning | Tagged Princeton, Walkability, York | 5 Comments

Who Is Redevelopment For?

Posted on August 9, 2013 by walkableprinceton

A newcomer to Camden, NJ asks the question: who is redevelopment for? (Todd Mecklem, via thenextcity.org, Click to expand.)

Stephen Danley at nextcity.org makes a resonant point about the risk that redevelopment can pass local residents by. In his case, he wants to talk about….Camden. Have you ever spent any time in Camden? Are you familiar with its attractive riverfront location? Its affordable housing? Or do you think of it as: Continue reading →

Posted in Community, Local | Tagged Camden, New Jersey, Princeton, Redevelopment, Tony Mack, Trenton | 2 Comments

Is That A Good Deal? ‘Fabulous-Newly Renovated’

Posted on August 8, 2013 by walkableprinceton

Murray Place apartment viewed from front. (Click to expand.)

As part of an occasional series where we cast an eye over the Princeton, NJ rental and real estate market, we invite you to comment on a local listing that we have pulled more or less at random off Craigslist. Previous entries are here and here. Continue reading →

Posted in Good Deal? | Tagged Apartment, Nassau Street, Princeton, Princeton New Jersey, Princeton University, Westminster Choir College | 3 Comments

Language Clustering In Princeton And The Townships

Posted on August 7, 2013 by walkableprinceton

Newly-released data from the US Census Bureau reveals the distribution of speakers of different languages throughout the USA (here showing just the immediate Princeton area) (Click to expand.)

Spanish and Chinese are the most commonly-spoken non-English languages in the Princeton areas, but speakers of these languages seem to cluster in different areas (Click to expand.)

Freshly-released data from the 2011 American Community Survey shows us where speakers of different languages speak throughout the USA. Over 20% of US residents speak a language other than English at home, and thanks to a handy online mapping tool, we can now see exactly where they live! Continue reading →

Posted in Local, Princeton | Tagged Plainsboro, Plainsboro Township New Jersey, Princeton, Princeton University, West Windsor, West Windsor Township New Jersey | Leave a comment

Has Sprawl Made Princeton ‘Fragile’?

Posted on August 6, 2013 by walkableprinceton

Princeton’s precarious electrical infrastructure can be expected to fail catastrophically during the next big storm. (Click to expand)

Note: This article is cross-posted at Strong Towns Network.

Chuck Marohn at Strong Towns recently posted an article titled ‘Detroit: An American Autopsy‘, inspired by the book of the same name by Charles LeDuff. Here is the gist of Chuck’s piece:

“I’ve long held that Detroit is not some one off place that we can discount but that it actually represents the logical outcome of the Suburban Experiment..” Continue reading →

Posted in Density, Downtown Vibrancy, Princeton, Smart Growth, Sustainability, The Parking Question, Zoning | Tagged Detroit, Oakland County Michigan, Paul Krugman, Princeton, Silicon Valley | 1 Comment

TCNJ ‘Campus Town’ Looks Set To Be A Model of ‘Smart Growth’

Posted on August 5, 2013 by walkableprinceton

The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) campus in Ewing, NJ. (Click to expand.)

Princeton University is planning to close its much-loved [and affordable!] Butler Apartments off South Harrison Road next summer. Despite complaints from graduate students about the limited rental options in Princeton, there are currently no plans to redevelop the site. In June, we called for Princeton U. to ‘think big’ at Butler, by providing a higher-density, mixed-use center for accommodating graduate students, post-docs and moderate-income families, with shops and amenities directly on-site. Continue reading →

Posted in Density, Downtown Vibrancy, Local, Smart Growth, Zoning | Tagged College of New Jersey, Ewing Township New Jersey, Princeton, Princeton University, smart growth, TCNJ | 3 Comments

How Walkable Boulder, CO Protected Its Undeveloped Areas

Posted on August 2, 2013 by walkableprinceton

Panoramic view of Boulder Co. Image via www.downtownboulder.com (Click to expand)

Panoramic view of Boulder, CO– which emerged joint-top of our recent survey of ‘greatest college towns’. Image via www.downtownboulder.com (Click to expand)

When we recently compiled a list of the Best College Towns, based on 10 other lists, the towns that came out tops were Charlottesville, VA and Boulder, CO. Looking at Boulder, what does it have that makes it such a great place to live? Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Transportation, Density, Downtown Vibrancy, Smart Growth, Sustainability, Trails, Transit, Walking, Zoning | Tagged Boulder, Princeton, Walkability | 3 Comments

Dorothea’s House – John Street and Green Street, Princeton

Posted on August 1, 2013 by walkableprinceton

Dorothea’s House, Princeton. (Click image to expand.)

This post is part of a series where we celebrate the many beautiful and characterful sights of Princeton, NJ. You can find previous entries in this series here and here or by searching the blog for ‘beautiful walkable Princeton’. Continue reading →