Citibike Is Here! What Would Be The Best Princeton Bikeshare Locations?

Posted on May 28, 2013 by walkableprinceton
Citibike station, Spring St, Manhattan

Citibike station, Spring St, Manhattan

It has finally happened! Bikeshare has launched in New York, and as befits the Big Apple, it’s the biggest system in America, with 600 stations and plans to grow to 10,000 bikes! These chunky blue bikes could soon become as iconic a feature of New York as the traditional yellow cab! You can read a handy ‘frequently asked question’ page about the new system from New York City Department of Transport here. At the minute, only annual members can use the system, but daily members will be welcomed from this Sunday, June 2. Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Transportation, Biking | 4 Comments

New Plan For Princeton Hospital Site Shows Major Improvements

Posted on May 24, 2013 by walkableprinceton
New hospital site plan features townhouses to fit in better with the neighborhood.

New hospital site plan features townhouses to better fit in with the neighborhood. (Click image to expand.)

A public meeting at Community Park School on Wednesday evening revealed a new proposal for redevelopment of the former hospital site in Princeton. Jon Vogel, vice-president of development at AvalonBay, led a series of presentations from architects, engineers and landscape planners, who have been working with Princeton officials to amend the development proposal, after the Princeton Planning Board rejected their initial application. Continue reading →

Posted in Affordability, Density, Downtown Vibrancy, Local, Princeton, Smart Growth, Sustainability, Traffic, Walking, Zoning | 7 Comments

Could 15mph Speed Limits Be On The Way To Princeton?

Posted on May 23, 2013 by walkableprinceton
Cars and walkers share many Princeton roads and streets, would a 20mph improve safety?

Cars and walkers share many Princeton roads and streets. Would a 15mph or 20mph speed limit improve safety?

A bill working its way through the New Jersey State Legislature proposes to enable municipalities to enact lower speed limits on local roads. The proposed new law, which was introduced March 21, 2013 by Assemblyman Scott Rudder and Assemblywoman Celeste Riley, recently moved through the transportation committee on an unanimous vote. Continue reading →

Posted in Local, Princeton, Traffic | Leave a comment

New Princeton Hospital Site Plan Set To Be Unveiled Tonight At Community Park School

Posted on May 22, 2013 by walkableprinceton

Barry Rabner, President of Princeton Healthcare System, the operator of University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro (UMCPP, formerly known as ‘Princeton Hospital’), was quoted this week in the Princeton Packet (potential paywall) on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of the hospital’s move from Princeton to Plainsboro.  Mr Rabner spoke about the emotion and excitement among hospital staff regarding the move, which ended a 90-year history of medical care in central Princeton: Continue reading →

Posted in Density, Princeton, Zoning | 4 Comments

Meet The New Jersey Guy Trying To Walk Across the USA!

Posted on May 21, 2013 by walkableprinceton
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Alex Hrebin, who is attempting to walk across America, via whereintheworldisalexsandiego.wordpress.com

Updated 6.5.13: We made some changes to this piece based on info from ‘J.P.’ in the comments section!

Every now and again, you come across a story so bizarre that it takes you away from your daily work and makes you think. For us, the story- if you can call it a story- of Alex Hrebin Sandiego, is one of those events. Mr Hrebin is a native of Sea Bright, NJ, a small borough on the shore near Sandy Hook Oxford, NJ. At some point in April of this year, he set out to walk across America. You can follow his travels at his blog here. Continue reading →

Posted in People, Walking | 3 Comments

Take Our Poll: Why Do Princeton Area People Not Cycle To Work?

Posted on May 20, 2013 by walkableprinceton
Bicycles in Princeton: not as widely used as in other College towns.

Bicycles in Princeton: not as widely used as in other College towns.

National Bike Week is now over! Did you cycle to work last week? Don’t feel bad if the answer is ‘No’. In Princeton, not many people cycle to work. Why is that? We are trying to answer that question in our poll today. Please click through to our Facebook page and give your answer at the following link:

Walkable Princeton Cycle-To-Work Poll Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Transportation, Biking, Local, Princeton | Leave a comment

Climate Change A Consequence Of Princeton Planning Decisions

Posted on May 17, 2013 by walkableprinceton
Hwy 27 traffic heading towards Princeton, April 2013

Hwy 27 traffic heading towards Princeton, April 2013

This week we learned that carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere have broken 400 parts per million for the first time in human history. 97% of atmospheric scientists believe that this is likely the cause of rising global temperatures and extreme weather events similar to what we saw last year with Hurricane Sandy. Admiral Samuel J Locklear III, Commander of the US Navy Pacific Command recently described climate change as the greatest threat to security in the region, and this is coming from somebody who has to deal with China’s growing military ambition and North Korea! Reducing CO2 emissions could reasonably be described as the #1 priority facing our society. Continue reading →

Posted in Density, Downtown Vibrancy, Princeton, Smart Growth, Sustainability, Traffic, Zoning | 7 Comments

Let Kids Walk And Bike To School Like In The Old Days

Posted on May 16, 2013 by walkableprinceton

As this great video from Streetfilms shows, around 50% of kids used to walk or bike to school. And this wasn’t in the days of horses and carts– we’re talking about the 1960s– well within living memory! Things have changed. Nowadays, the vast majority of school are bused or driven to school. And as the video makes clear, things didn’t change by accident– we planned for cars, and that’s what we got. Walking and biking was discouraged by the building of more, wider roads, and development in car-dependent suburbs instead of close-in, walkable neighborhoods. Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Transportation, Biking, Walking | 5 Comments

The Problem With Low-Density Housing, As Seen From Space

Posted on May 15, 2013 by walkableprinceton
Top - Princeton from Landsat imager 1984. Bottom- Princeton as seen by Landsat in 2012.

Top – Princeton from Landsat imager 1984. Bottom- Princeton as seen by Landsat in 2012. (Click for larger image)

Last week, Google made available an astonishing resource, which enables us to review satellite imagery of anywhere in the US on an annual basis from 1984 through 2012. You can read about the project here. They were able to make some amazing images, showing, for example, how the Columbia Glacier in Alaska has retreated in the face of rising global temperatures (click the previous link for an animated GIF). Continue reading →

Posted in Local, Sustainability, Zoning | 2 Comments

Why Does Princeton U. Score So Badly On Walkscore?

Posted on May 14, 2013 by walkableprinceton
Walkscore data for Ivy League Schools, from walkscore.com

Walkscore data for Ivy League Schools, from walkscore.com

How walkable is your college? One way to measure this is to use Walkscore, which attempts to quantify how walkable any location is by calculating its distance from stores, services, transit and other useful stuff. We previously tested Walkscore and found that although locations in downtown Princeton get scores consistent with being a “Walker’s Paradise”, some other neighborhoods in Princeton are rated as ‘car-dependent’. Continue reading →

Posted in Downtown Vibrancy, Princeton | 4 Comments