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May 11, 2008
Pedestrian
These boots are made for walking in downtown Chico.
Alan Chamberlain and many other individuals should be applauded for continuing to move forward with ideas to enhance the downtown experience.
As Chamberlain noted in the preface to the "A Walkable Downtown" report:
"Prior efforts to plan parking resources have focused on the convenience of the motorist. This has resulted in incoherent policies and regulations, with inconsistent enforcement, and a pedestrian‐hostile environment. The purpose of this planning effort is to provide an optimized experience for the pedestrian."
Some of the ideas, like smart meters which will allow differential parking pricing, will require upfront costs but will achieve significant long-term dividends to downtown users, merchants, and the city at large.
Today's Scrabble word is miffy, or easily annoyed.
Posted by dan_nt at May 11, 2008 01:20 PM
Comments
I read the story and the report and the focus is purported to be on enhancing the pedestrian experience and improving the "pedestrian-hostile" environment, but neither is addressed (COMPLETELY un-addressed in the article, and off-handedly addressed in report). What makes it hostile to pedestrians? What specifically would be done to address this supposed hostility? Toward the very end of the report there's a brief mention of enforcing no skating/bike-riding/loitering on sidewalk laws ... is that the crux of it all? I've lived here for 20 years and the only hostility I've encountered downtown was on weekend nights when the party people take over.
Posted by: jcassidy at May 12, 2008 07:43 AM
There are a number of factors that discourage pedestrians in the downtown. The first and foremost among them is the traffic congestion caused by the intersection of two primary arterial corridors. Because the Main-Broadway couplet and 2nd Street are principal through routes for motorists, planners have, mistakenly in my judgment, prioritized the motorway over the safety, comfort and convenience of pedestrians. As a consequence, we have narrow sidewalks, impatient motorists, and crosswalks where pedestrians are at risk. Because of the traffic density and the "raceway" effect, cyclists ride on the sidewalk, endangering pedestrians.
I know a great many people who simply will not come downtown because they are not safe.
The plan, if read in detail, reveals an integrated strategy to address these concerns, as well as invest in improvements that contribute to increased comfort and convenience for visitors once they leave their vehicles at the curb, whether auto, bus, or bike.
Enforcing quality of life violations is an important facet of this strategy. Getting bikes and skateboards off the sidewalk is critical to pedestrian safety. Certainly issuing citations for this violation will be useful to discourage people from riding on the sidewalk, but reducing and calming auto traffic will help cyclists feel safer on the roadway where they belong.
One suggestion, incidentally, includes acquiring existing private parking lots and converting them to pedestrian uses such as courtyards, vest-pocket parks, plazas, etc. as pedestrian refuges.
It's not a perfect plan, but it is perfectible.
Posted by: Alan Chamberlain at May 19, 2008 07:53 AM